Former £1m Hull City striker Folan can help ease Wells blow

The 30-year-old former Hull City striker joined the Bantams on a three-month loan deal a week ago.

Since then, Folan has impressed sufficiently in training to be included in the first-team squad after Bradford received international clearance on Thursday.

On a player who has been without a club since leaving T-Team in the Malaysian Super League earlier this year, Parkinson said: “He is a player who has been abroad for a while and is now looking to rebuild his reputation in this country.

“Caleb did part of pre-season with Blackpool and has kept his fitness up, which is good.

“He has been impressive so far in training and that is why he is in the squad.

“In his career, he has gone for big fees and that shows what a good player he has been. Caleb is big, powerful and a tremendous athlete.”

Folan started his career at Leeds United but moved on to Chesterfield without making an appearance for the Elland Road first team.

He then joined Wigan before becoming Hull’s first £1m player in the opening few weeks of the 2007-08 season that ended with Phil Brown’s side clinching promotion to the Premier League.

The one-time Republic of Ireland international has primarily been brought in to challenge James Hanson for a starting berth but the ankle ligament damage suffered by Nahki Wells in last week’s win over Shrewsbury could open up a route to the team.

On Bradford’s top scorer’s nine-goal top scorer, Parkinson added: “Nahki will be out for a couple of weeks, minimum.

“I don’t want to put a timescale on a possible return as that does no-one any favours. A lot depends on the individual and his recovery.”