Bradford City v Plymouth: Antoni Sarcevic relishing his latest promotion battle

The talismanic midfielder etched his name into Bantams' folklore in scarcely-believable fashion last May—his goal in the sixth minute of stoppage time against his old club Fleetwood Town ended the club's six-season stint in League Two.

The serial promotion-winner now faces the prospect of an encore— potentially dining out at the expense of one or even two of his former employers, as Bolton Wanderers and Stockport County are on the cusp of clinching play-off participation like City.

Both are potential opponents for Graham Alexander's side in the end-of-season lottery.

But first things first, with Sarcevic hoping to dent the top-six prospects of yet another of his ex-teams in Plymouth Argyle on Tuesday night.

A home win would confirm a play-off place for City — currently in fourth position – and land a significant blow to seventh-placed Argyle's own hopes of extending their season.

The delicious quirks of fixture fate for Sarcevic are such that Bradford welcome Bolton on Saturday. But even more significant games against clubs he knows well possibly lie in wait next month.

Sarcevic has been promoted five times from the fourth tier, with his glory trail including elevations with Plymouth, Bolton and Stockport alongside City. Going up from League One would crown things off nicely.

The Mancunian, who came on from the bench in the weekend draw at Barnsley after not being risked from the start due to an ankle niggle – with manager Alexander conscious of two big home games in quick succession this week — said: "I can't wait.

"I've got connections with ex-clubs and it's just a coincidence that three of them are in and around it with us.

"We've also got one (after Tuesday) in the second-to-last game of the season and then potentially another three with potentially another ex-club (in the play-offs). So I'm buzzing.

"There's a couple of weeks left of the season now, so we've just got to enjoy every bit."

A home victory on Tuesday would take City's haul of points at Valley Parade past the halfway mark for the second succession season. For the hosts, the prize is much bigger. Namely sealing the deal in terms of the top six. It's also a night of consequence for Argyle and their Bradford-born manager in Tom Cleverley. Alexander isn't particularly interested; his chief concern is that his side manage the game better after dropping two points at Oakwell despite playing with an extra man for over 80 minutes. He added: "It’s irrelevant for me who we are up against. It’s another opportunity for us to win three points.

“We’ve played a team in mid-table (Barnsley) and down to 10 men. What were they playing for?

“They were a team with nothing to play for and we gave them an equaliser.

“Forget where teams are in the league. We have to make better decisions, understand what the game is and take advantage of what we believe we are as a group of players and staff."

Last May, Sarcevic celebrated on the pitch with his young family after his promotion-clinching moment for the ages against Fleetwood.

Another few treasured additions for the family album wouldn't go amiss 12 months on – and he won't be lacking in personal support at Valley Parade.

Sarcevic continued: "I feel like I'm going to have to sort of say that my wife has got to drive in on her own because the kids in the car can drive me mad!

"But my two eldest, they love it. They love the club, they love everything about it.

"If they can make a few more trips and hopefully a few more trips with a bit of celebrations, then it'd be fantastic."

Alexander will be looking for a reaction after seeing his side lose a 2-1 lead in stoppage-time to draw 2-2 with Barnsley.

"If we don't learn from those last five minutes then forget about working had, forget about running your nuts off in pre-season and all this," he said. "If you're going to get to those final moments and not make the right decision it's not going to happen for us.

"I've not overblown it but we have to have a reality check here. There's a couple of games where we've just thrown points away and that 100 per cent was one of them.

"But we're still in a great position, it's another point on the board.

"But after the game I was feeling painful and so were the players and I'm sure the supporters, who were unbelievable with their backing. We should have been having the scenes we have at the end of a match."