The Premier League champions responded by thrashing the Championship strugglers 5-0 at the Etihad Stadium and will now face rivals Manchester United or Chelsea for a place in the final.

Lescott, a former Everton player, said: “We knew it would be tough, but we had all watched the game earlier.

“Everyone predicted an Everton win, but Wigan surprised most people.

“We didn’t want that to happen to us so we had to put in a professional performance.

“The manager set our stall out before we even travelled to the stadium, saying that if we were professional and played in the right way it would be hard for Barnsley to create many chances.

“From the get-go we proved that, and made it hard.”

Striker Carlos Tevez took most of the plaudits for City after scoring a hat-trick in an outstanding performance.

But City’s defence has been the bedrock of their FA Cup challenge with four clean sheets in victories over Watford, Stoke, Leeds and now Barnsley.

Not since Bury in 1903 have a team won the competition without conceding a goal.

“We are always delighted to keep clean sheets, and even better if it gets you to a semi-final as well,” said England international Lescott, who after falling down the pecking order this season made his first start in a month on Saturday.

“But now we are at the business end of the competition and it’s not about keeping clean sheets but winning games.

“We need to win the next two, and we have our name on the cup again.”

Tevez’s display came two days after the Argentinian was arrested on suspicion of driving whilst disqualified.

The 29-year-old’s ability to put aside off-field issues was not a surprise to Lescott.

He said: “His performance doesn’t surprise me, to be honest. He has been our most consistent player since I joined the club.

“In his first two years he carried the team on his back. We won a lot of games by one goal, and that was down to Carlos – when he plays like that he is unplayable.”