Bradford City v Barrow - Danny Rowe ready for new life at Valley Parade

The recent Bradford City arrival has previously acquainted himself with the Valley Parade venue, netting with a glorious match-winning strike in front of the deserted Bradford End for previous club Oldham Athletic in the Latics’ FA Cup triumph in late November.

It was a breathtaking moment delivered by Rowe, whose return to BD8 to sign on the dotted line earlier this month is something he will not forget in a hurry either as he took time to take and appreciate in his new surroundings.

Rowe, hoping to provide himself with a belated birthday present, having turned 31 on Friday, said. “I was actually quite shocked when I turned up, to be fair. I don’t know how to say it, but I did not expect it to be what it was.

“I had seen it on TV and when we (Oldham) turned up to Bradford to play, I knew it was a big club and stuff, but at the time, it was just another game.

“But looking around the stadium and different things, I was kind of shocked by it all.”

Rowe’s strike in the midweek victory at Southend helped extend the Bantams’ unbeaten sequence to seven matches under the interim team of Mark Trueman and Conor Sellars and further emboldened spirits ahead of their first home game of 2020.

Like Southend, Barrow have shown signs of picking up of late and while City head into the game with confidence, there is certainly no complacency.

Trueman said: “We are confident and winning and being unbeaten obviously breeds confidence. But we know we cannot let our standards drop.

“We have to respect the opposition we play. But we want to be a team who people don’t want to play in this league.

“We want to be a team who are hard to beat, but a threat going forward and we have shown that in the last couple of games.”

City face a Bluebirds side who beat them 1-0 in the reverse fixture at Holker Street, but avenging that result against the Cumbrians will not be a particular motivation, according to Trueman.

“I don’t think so,” he continued.

“It is a new management team with fresh ideas and we don’t work that way and it is all about us and about how we perform and looking at the opposition and seeing where we can potentially hurt them and what threats they offer us.”

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