STUART McCALL believes Bradford City's trip to Accrington Stanley offers Kyle Nix the chance to stake his claim for a run in the side.

The Bantams manager believes the winger, who has started just one league game this season, was the club's second-best player last term.

Omar Daley's form has kept Nix on the bench this time around but with the Jamaican away on international duty this weekend, the 22-year-old will be given a rare chance to impress against the Lancashire club.

McCall said: "Kyle will come in and I see this as a real chance for him. He was probably the runner-up in our player-of-the-year last season.

"He is someone who does everything you ask of him and who can be relied upon to give everything in training. It is only because of Omar that he has been out of the team. But, with Omar away, this is a great opportunity for Kyle to make a point."

City are also without the injured Mark Bower and suspended Paul Heckingbottom for the trip to Accrington following his sending off in last weekend's draw at home to Luton Town.

Better news for McCall, however, is the possible availability of Paul Arnison after injury with the full-back having returned to training on Thursday and TJ Moncur.

The on-loan Fulham defender was knocked out in City's defeat at Shrewsbury Town a fortnight ago but could, depending on a neurologist's report, have recovered in time to travel.

Today's game sees Bradford return to a venue where their fortunes changed dramatically last term with a 2-0 win on New Year's Day kickstarting an unbeaten six-game run that helped nudge the club up to a 10th place finish.

McCall said: "Our win at Accrington was payback for our fans because of the way we had lost 3-0 against them earlier.

"It was a great feeling to look around the ground that day and see three-quarters of the ground full of City fans. A repeat of that would be a huge boost for the players."

Bradford seek their first win in four outings after defeats against Bournemouth and Shrewsbury followed by a 1-1 draw at home to Luton.

Last six games: Accrington Stanley LLDLLL, Bradford City LWWLLD.

Referee: M Jones (Cheshire).

Last time: Accrington Stanley 0 Bradford City 2; January 1, 2008; League One.

SkyBet odds: Accrington Stanley to win 5-2; draw 12-5; Bradford City to
win 11-10.