Graham Alexander on Bradford City's big-stage credentials - with no interest in sight-seeing at Bolton Wanderers
THE big stage has served Bradford City well over two tumultuous seasons - and not just at Valley Parade either.
Much has been justifiably made of the Bantams' stellar home form. A number of high points have also arrived on the road - at some famous stadiums - as Graham Alexander is quick to point out.
He insists that the last thing that City will feel in Saturday's play-off first leg against Bolton Wanderers at the Toughsheet Community Stadium is a feeling of intimidation.
Alexander said: "I think we’ve enjoyed it. Even in the League Cup when we went to Stoke and Blackburn, the players walked out the tunnel and went, ‘yeah, this is a bit of us’.
"It was the same at Cardiff. It’s good for the players to feel like that.
"It’s not being overconfident or disrespectful to the opponent, but we put our shoulders back and we’re here to compete.
"We’ve been playing in front of 20,000 (home crowds) for two years really.
"The pressure on the game and the result can be slightly different. But we’ve been in these games, having to win the last game of the season last year and the one before – and this season again.
"We are fortunate that we’ve been involved in these profile games a lot over the last two years.
"We had two semi-finals in the EFL Trophy as well – nearly 30,000 at Birmingham.
"I think our performances have always been good. I can’t think of a game like this when we haven’t been competitive, regardless of the result."
An aggregate crowd of not far shy of 50,000 will attend two huge Roses meetings between City and Bolton in what is, with all due respect, the higher profile League One semi-final this weekend.
Stevenage take on Stockport County in the other tie.
Alexander added: "It’s amazing and we could probably get more if we had bigger stadiums between us.
"You see the support base of both clubs and it’s fantastic. We’ve seen it in the league games which were nearly sell-outs.
"We took nearly 5,000 over there earlier in the season.
"I heard about the queues overnight for (away play-off) tickets and it’s just a shame we couldn’t get them all in.
"You want to be involved in these games, it gets the juices flowing. But we’re here to compete and not just look at the sights."