City need ‘calmness we showed against Gunners’

The Bantams are 180 minutes away from a Wembley Cup final – a reality that was almost inconceivable at the start of the Capital One Cup campaign back in August.

But after dumping out Notts County, Watford, Wigan and then famously Arsenal in the quarter-finals last month, Bradford face Aston Villa in the first leg of the semi-final.

Given all the turmoil the club have been through over the last decade – two administrations, three relegations and a battle against demotion from the Football League – it is an occasion to cherish for the club and the city.

And with the Bantams overwhelming underdogs, just as they were against Arsenal, Parkinson has urged them to enjoy the pressure-free occasion.

“We’ve worked really hard to get to this stage and we’re going to enjoy it,” he said.

“It’s a tremendous achievement by everybody at the club to reach this stage for the first time in our history.

“We’ve got nothing to lose. Last year it was a struggle to keep this club in the League, and that was real pressure.

“(Tonight) is certainly a night to enjoy when you look at what we went through last season.

“Especially for those fans that remember the Crawley game when we had a brawl and lost a few players. We then found ourselves with a squad where I thought we would do very well to stay in the division.

“As a club it would have been damaging to go down. But we survived.

“And now everyone is really positive in the city and behind the club again, and that’s what we need.”

As much as he wants his players to embrace an occasion that will be watched by another sell-out crowd at Valley Parade, Parkinson also hopes his players can remain competitive against a side three divisions above his own.

If the odds of Bradford beating Arsenal a month ago were long, they will be even longer in a tie to be contested over two legs with the return to come on January 22.

As much as a buoyant home crowd can lift his team tonight, Parkinson knows that with a trip to Villa Park still to come, the objective is to not shoot themselves in the foot.

“It’s going to be a tough challenge, but our aim is to get into the second leg in two weeks’ time still in the tie,” he said.

“It’s probably harder to win over two legs, but our aim is to get to that second game with a chance. If we do that (tonight) then we’ll have performed very well.

“We’ve said in the other games against Premier League teams that there’s no pressure on us from outside, it’s just from within where we want to perform to our best, to do the shirt and Bradford City justice in a game that is going to be under a tremendous spotlight for a club of this stature.”

To help inspire his players that another shock is not beyond them, Parkinson showed his players the highlights of their heroic quarter-final win yesterday at their Woodhouse Grove training base in Apperley Bridge.

“We just showed them some footage of the Arsenal game (yesterday morning) just to remind them of the discipline, the shape of the team and how well we worked as a unit in that game,” he said.

“But also when we won the ball back we played with a calmness on the ball and that’s important because we know if you keep giving Premier League teams the ball back it becomes a long night.

“So it’s about getting that balance right. We’ve got to be really up for the game, we’ve got to
be committed, we’ve got to use the crowd to take us on to another level, but also we’ve got to have that composure and calmness as well.

“They’ve shown they can compete against the best teams, but we also know we’ve got to be right at our best and Villa will have to be well below par for us to progress, but anything can be achieved and our lads will relish the challenge.”

Whatever happens over 180 minutes against Paul Lambert’s Premier League strugglers, this Cup run has been one to savour.

It has also cast the club in a positive light at a national level after years of decline, and Parkinson wants to use it as a springboard for the future. He said: “The win against Arsenal reminded everybody that Bradford City is up and running and can get going again. Another really good performance would be good for the city.

“These are bonus games for us. The revenue we have brought in for the football club will be hugely beneficial for not just this year but probably the following year as well, so we’ve got to enjoy it.

“Whatever happens over these two legs we can look back at this cup run as a tremendous feat by this group of players.

“This group of players will be remembered whatever happens over these two legs.

“We’ve won a lot of games, had a lot of extra times, overcome a lot of challengers to get to this point.

“And I want all the club to make the most of this moment.”