Bradford City handed timely injury boost ahead of trip to Barrow

The pair were absent as the Bantams were beaten 1-0 by Bolton Wanderers on Tuesday night. Evans and Sutton have not played since the 1-0 defeat to Harrogate Town at Valley Parade almost three weeks ago.

McCall is expecting injuries to be a feature of this season for a lot of clubs, with games being played inside a shorter time-frame and players returning to fitness after such a long lay-off.

“Yeah, Evo [Evans] and Levi will definitely be back in contention for Saturday,” confirmed McCall.

“We’ve got another couple of soft tissue injuries but you’re going to get that with the games coming Saturday, Tuesday every week. There are a couple with tight hamstrings – you don’t know if it’s just a bit of tightness or there might be a little strain.

“That is a concern naturally so to have these lads coming back is a bonus.”

Meanwhile, McCall was unable to put a timescale on Lee Novak’s return, after the striker missed his first league game of the campaign on Tuesday night.

He added: “We don’t know how long Noves is going to be out. I don’t think it’s great news but we’ll get it looked at properly.”

McCall named three centre backs and two wing backs in his starting line-up against Bolton. It was a system that almost reaped the rewards but City were unable to find the elusive goal as their frustrating start to the season continued.

“There were some big chances but that’s what football is about. You’ve got to take your opportunities when they arise and we didn’t do that,” he said.

“It’s about being consistent in the selection over the formation as much as the players. But we’ve got to stick at that now and go from here.”

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