As City visit the Boleyn Ground on Saturday, Allardyce has opted not to put his side under any pressure.
“These are the easier games to say to the players 'Go out, relax and enjoy yourselves out there'”, said Allardyce. “If anything you have to demotivate them because they are so hyper for it and they want to prove themselves against world-class opposition.
“Manchester City have to live with that. They won the Barclays Premier League for the first time in many years last season and their reputation has grown. Every player and team who they come up against will want to beat them a little bit more and hopefully our players take up that attitude on Saturday.”