Parkinson puts Cup on the back-burner

The Bantams were paired with the Millers in what is certain to be a fiery first-round tie at the New York Stadium.

Supporters have been snapping up tickets for the trip to south Yorkshire ever since the draw was made but Parkinson’s focus remains solely on getting back to winning ways today in the league.

He said: “It is all about Crewe. Next week is next week and my sole aim is to go into the Rotherham game sitting in the top six of League One. Everything else can wait.”

City, of course, were the story of last season’s Cup competitions courtesy of a thrilling run that took Parkinson’s men all the way to Wembley in the Capital One Cup final.

The momentum built during that run then played a major part in Bradford finishing the season strongly to clinch a return to League One via the play-off final at Wembley.

A strong start to this campaign then helped raise hopes of a second consecutive promotion challenge, something that has not been altered by a run of four games that have yielded just one point.

Parkinson said: “Of course, we wish the results had been different but there was certainly plenty of positives to take out of our last two games (a 2-2 draw at Preston and a 2-1 home reverse to Wolves).

“Both those teams are Championship standard and yet we equipped ourselves very well. That said, football is all about results and we need to start collecting points against soon.”

Nahki Wells could again be involved after coming through the second half against Wolves in his first appearance since suffering an ankle injury.

As for today’s trip to Gresty Road, Parkinson added: “Crewe are a good footballing side. I saw them a couple of weeks ago (at Preston when they won 2-0). They could have been 3-0 down early on but then came back really well.

“If we let them get into the game, they could cause us problems so it is up to us to start strongly.

“We have to build on the performance, if not result, against Wolves and take the positive aspects into the Crewe game.”