Bradford City will be honest with Calum Kavanagh to get him back in the goals

The 20-year-old scored five goals last season after joining in February, but in five games this campaign is not yet off the mark. It is Alexander's job to coax it out of him, preferably in Saturday's League Two game at home to Carlisle United.

“It’s about a little bit of honesty,” he said. “It’s not always just an arm round a shoulder.

“I think he knows we value him as a player. We’ve shown the confidence in him by playing him so much straight away when he came in and this season as well.

“But ultimately if we’ve got good players champing at the bit to come into the team, I can’t be too loyal. My loyalty first and foremost is to the team and the squad as a whole.

“He missed a little period of pre-season (and) I don’t think he’s as sharp as when he came to us.

“If people are having a dip, it’s our responsibility to try and help them out of it. You come out of it by being consistent in training and your mindset and preparation.

“It’s not a change of boots or wearing your wristband on the other side. It’s in your practice, how you prepare mentally and physically.”

Kavanagh’s dad, former Carlisle manager and Boro and Sheffield Wednesday midfielder Graham, could have told him that, but Alexander is not sure how helpful that is.

“You have to experience it yourself,” he argued. “What son listens to his dad all the time anyway?

“It's only when it's reaffirmed that they actually believe it. Kavanagh senior might have been wasting his breath for a few years but I would say it's of great value to Callum his dad will have gone through periods of this, as we all have as footballers, so he's got two people trying to help him get better.”

The Bantams are set to be without Aden Baldwin and Antoni Sarcevic for most of September.

“He's going to be three or weeks, we think,” Alexander said of Baldwin. “He's really positive about it, he says he feels a lot better than the day after and he's had injuries a long time ago so he's aware of his body.”

Sarcevic's is "a different injury but the timeframe is pretty similar."​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​