Bradford v Fleetwood: City gearing up for decisive ‘mini-season’

The Bantams will fly out for some warm weather training 
after today’s match with Fleetwood Town.

After six consecutive midweek matches, Parkinson believes some sunshine and a break from the club’s Apperley Bridge training ground will set City up for the run-in.

He said: “The lads had a couple of days off this week after Reading (on Monday, in the FA Cup). We needed to clear the building and give everyone a break.

“It has been such a busy schedule that I felt we needed a break, no matter how small.

“I have seen the benefit already in training.

“After Fleetwood, we will take the players away for three or four days, get a bit of training and some decent weather into the players.

“We obviously did something similar a couple of seasons ago (when City won promotion from League Two) and I did the same at Colchester in the season we had a good Cup run.

“I am a big believer in the benefits.”

The visit of Fleetwood is the first of three consecutive home games with Oldham Athletic due at Valley Parade a week today and Chesterfield three days later.

Bradford then head to Doncaster Rovers on Good Friday before hosting Preston North End on Easter Monday in a period that could go a long way towards deciding their play-off fate.

Parkinson added: “We are about to start a mini-season and there is so much to play for. If we had got knocked out of the Cup and had nothing to play for, things may have been a bit flat.

“But the opposite is true for us. The play-offs are still up for grabs and we are up for the challenge.”