Bradford City v Walsall: Sam Walker on the ingredients that have allowed Bantams to deal with Andy Cook injury

Bradford host a Walsall side who have won their last nine League Two games in an unbeaten run stretching back to October. The Bantams are without top-scorer Andy Cook, whose season was ended by anterior cruciate ligament damage.

Yet a run of five wins in six unbeaten games, four January signings, the return of Antoni Sarcevic and Alex Pattison, and a clarity in what they are being asked to do have all come together to give the hosts confidence they can upset the applecart in the 12.30pm kick-off.

Looking back on Cook's injury at Barrow, Walker says: "That was a big moment because he's such a talismanic character for us, a huge character around the club, and that's without the goals.

"What was really positive was in the immediate aftermath of when he came off at Barrow we put in such a strong performance. For the rest of that first half – we tailed off a little bit in the second half – it was a really strong performance.

"To get a positive result at Grimsby without him on the pitch in the game afterwards (a 3-1 win) was a big step forward for us.

"If we go on to achieve what we want to achieve, it will be important to remember we were really only able to push on because of Andy Cook's goals in the first half of the season."

Helping them withstand Cook's loss has been a rare sensation at Valley Parade – stability. It is based around a regular 3-4-2-1 formation.

"If there are injuries, suspensions, drops in form – as there will be, we've got 21 games left and the next six or seven weeks look very busy – everyone knows their roles," explains Walker.

"The new lads are watching all the clips and being given a lot of detail on how they've got to stamp their mark on this team and the way we do things.

"We've made four signings very quickly and it showed the good work going on behind the scenes and the areas they identified.

"The lads look sharp, they look hungry, ready to supplement what we've got in the building."