Port Vale striker Tom Pope has responded to the criticism he's been getting from a section of Manchester City fans on social media, following the outcome of the FA Cup third round draw.

The 34-year-old scored a remarkable eight-minute hat-trick at the weekend as Vale booked their place in the third round of the FA Cup with a 3-1 win over Cheltenham Town.

The League Two side have been drawn away to holders Manchester City in the next round of the competition and the striker has been quite vocal on social media in the build up to the clash.

Following the draw, a tweet from Pope from over six months ago, where he criticised City defender John Stones, has resurfaced.

Pope tore into Stones for one of his performances for England and claimed that he would "love to play against him every week" and that he would score "40 a season" against him.

After the FA Cup draw last night, Pope put out another tweet saying that Stones has "improved dramatically" over the past few months, but plenty of Man City fans were quick to call him out for it.

The striker has responded to the criticism he's been getting from some City fans with another message on Twitter.

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The Verdict

I'm sure Pope will be finding all of this rather amusing on social media, but his best way to silence the Manchester City fans would be by doing his talking on the pitch and scoring for Port Vale against them in the FA Cup.

The striker was brilliant at the weekend and scored remarkable hat-trick, so I'm sure he'll be full of confidence going into the game against City, but he'll need to be at his absolute best.

It'll be a very tough game for Vale against the holders but I'm sure all the players will be really looking forward to the occasion and will be secretly hoping to cause an upset too.

Thoughts? Let us know in the comments below.