‘Let’s make a good season a great one’

Two places and five points separate the Bantams and Millers, who were both relegated to the bottom tier six years ago.

A home win tonight would go a long way towards cementing a place in the play-offs, while a Rotherham victory would see Steve Evans’s men move into the automatic promotion places with just two games remaining.

Parkinson said: “It could potentially be a play-off final. Both teams are up there. But our focus is on making sure we stay there. We have worked so hard to get to this point.

“We had a chat with the lads (on Monday) and said we’d got ourselves in a good position ’but let’s make a good season a great season’.

“We are not content with what we have so far. We want more. The minute anyone at this club shows sign of being content with what we have so far then we don’t want them around.”

City, unbeaten in half-a-dozen games, have hit form at just the right time, but Parkinson is well aware how tough a test tonight’s game will be for his side.

The Millers triumphed 4-0 over their Yorkshire rivals in early September, though the Bantams chief does insist his side were on the end of a harsh scoreline at the New York Stadium.

Parkinson said: “We lost down there, but everything they hit in that first half went in. It was a bit like what happened to Newcastle at home to Sunderland at the weekend (when the Magpies lost 3-0).

“It wasn’t a good game for us, but a lot of water has passed under the bridge since then. Throughout the course of a season, you get games like that, where the scoreline probably doesn’t reflect the balance of the game.”

Andrew Davies (calf) and Kyel Reid (groin) are City’s major injury concerns ahead of what, considering the events of 13 months ago when Steve Evans took his Crawley side to Valley Parade and six players received their marching orders, seems certain to be a Yorkshire derby played amid a raucous atmosphere.

Parkinson added: “As much as I am asking the players for one last big push, I am also asking the supporters for the same.

“The more vociferous the crowd is, the harder it is for the opposition.”