City ready to get their campaign going again, believes Parkinson

In the opening two months, the momentum from winning last May’s League Two play-off final at Wembley ensured the Bantams had an impressive start back to life in the third tier.

Six wins from 10 games and a points haul of 21 suggested back-to-back promotions could be on the cards at Valley Parade.

Since then, however, the season has tailed off badly with the last 18 games having yielded just a solitary victory. That came way back on November 23 at Milton Keynes Dons, 12 games ago.

However, after a January that saw Parkinson freshen his squad on the back of selling top scorer Nahki Wells, the City manager is adamant that the Bantams are ready to get their campaign going once again.

He said: “We got the players together for a meeting (on Thursday morning) and said to them that the time had come to kick on.

“The squad is now in place after a few new arrivals and I believe there is plenty of strength in there.

“We have 18 games left and we want to see a really strong end to the season.

“To be fair, the season has been a bit fragmented at times. But that is no longer a factor and we have to get back to winning ways, starting with Crewe this weekend.”

With a trip to Carlisle United following today’s visit of the Railwaymen, the Bantams have a chance to claim an elusive three points as they take on a couple of struggling sides.

James Hanson and Andrew Davies will return after being rested as a precaution in last weekend’s defeat at Wolverhampton Wanderers, but Nathan Doyle will be missing following his red card at Molineux.

Parkinson said: “James was feeling his hamstring and playing him would have been a risk.

“Likewise, Andrew had played his first game in several months just four days earlier. They are both available for Crewe.”