Bradford City v Oldham Athletic - Phil Parkinson is wary of John Sheridan's impact

Sheridan replaced David Dunn as Latics’ chief on Wednesday, returning to the club he took charge of for three years prior to March 2009.

Oldham are on a run of seven games without a win – the same number of games that Bradford are undefeated at home. However, Parkinson fears Sheridan’s arrival could turn the game into a more difficult encounter.

He said: “Oldham are near the bottom of the table currently, but they do have a new manager in place now and we know it will be a tough test.

“If Oldham are going to come to Valley Parade with more spirit and fight in their bodies after John’s appointment, then we will have to go up to another level to more than match that.”

Surprisingly, today’s clash will be the first time Bradford have played a league game on home soil since the match against Coventry City.

Two consecutive home postponements mean that when the game kicks off it will be the first time Valley Parade has seen action for 53 days.

“It has been a long time since we’ve played at home, certainly in the league,” Parkinson said.

“I can’t quite believe that our last home league match was the Coventry City one at the end of November.

“To say we are eager to get back on home turf then would be an understatement.

“We have to really crank up the atmosphere around the ground and aim to keep going with the run we’ve been having at home.

“That means remembering all the hard work we put into games like the Bury fixture back in October, which got us started on this unbeaten home run.”