Parkinson hails Jones’s influence on City squad

PHIL PARKINSON has hailed veteran midfielder Gary Jones as a “role model” for the rest of the Bradford City squad.

The 35-year-old joined the Bantams in the summer after nine years at Rochdale and has been an ever-present in midfield.

Parkinson, who will make a check on Zavon Hines (cramp) ahead of tonight’s game, said: “Gary has been proving to be a really good acquisition for us.

“His professionalism and fitness are excellent.

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“We were very careful in the summer to make sure we brought in the right characters to influence the younger players.

“Gary definitely falls into that category. How he trains and how he looks after himself is superb and I would go so far as to say he is a role model for the rest.

“He is the fittest 35-year-old I have ever seen. The great thing is he seems to get stronger the longer a games goes on, which is testament to all the work he puts in.”

Jones played a major role in City’s 3-0 victory over Barnet on Saturday, the club’s sixth straight win on home soil.

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Bradford had to be patient against a side who came to frustrate their hosts and Parkinson was delighted with both his players and the fans.

He said: “I thought the supporters were great. They showed how knowledgeable they are. Barnet had made a loan signing in the week and came to make it difficult for us.

“But we stayed patient and got our rewards in the end with those three second-half goals.

“Coming after we had won 5-1 in our last home game and scored all our goals in the first half, I thought the fans were great in being patient.”

Last six games: Bradford City WWWLDW, Morecambe LLWWLD.

Referee: D Webb (County Durham).

Last time: Bradford City 2 Morecambe 2; January 14, 2012; League Two.

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