Leyton Orient v Bradford City: Graham Alexander makes Carabao Cup pledge

For Bradford City, it might not constitute the Carabao Cup third-round draw that most supporters wanted after beating Burnley on penalties, but Graham Alexander sees the flip side.

In terms of games, it's ‘more the merrier’ with members of his squad needing match minutes and the City chief conscious of keeping all his players involved and feeling part of it. Tuesday’s trip to Brisbane Road is the first part of a triple header with City also heading down the M1 to Notts County on Saturday followed by an appointment at Luton Town seven days later.

Alexander (inset) said: “I know it stretches us physically and probably financially with the journeys and stuff like that, but we're in the game to win and I want all my players to have that feeling that they all got against Burnley.

“It’s why we're always strong in our cup competitions. We take them all seriously, every single game, because the more games we have, the better it is for the squad.

“Last year, we felt the value of that. The year before, when we got to the EFL Trophy semi-finals and we're constantly changing the team, it keeps the squad alive, it keeps them together, it keeps them all feeling valuable.

“It's difficult to consistently make people feel valuable if they haven't played for three or four months. You try to treat everyone with respect, but they're footballers, they want to compete.

“So certainly in the first part of the season, the longer we can go in cup competitions and keep the squad motivated and playing, I think it's always a positive for us.”

While City would certainly have preferred a home game for logistical purposes and in terms of their upcoming itinerary, midweek nights on the road have served the club well in recent times in cup competitions, with famous results secured at the likes of Stoke City and Blackburn Rovers, plus a memorable occasion at Newcastle.

“We've had some fantastic nights away from home, certainly last season in this competition,” agreed Alexander.

“I wanted a big team at home and you could see why. The (Burnley) atmosphere was fantastic.

“The team really stepped up to the plate. We were stretched in loads of different ways but we stayed in there and we created our own opportunities. Those are the nights that we love to be a part of and hopefully there'll be a few more.”

The likes of Harvey Cartwright and Reece Welch took their chances well in the last round, and opportunity could well knock for others in the capital as well.

Alexander added: “They all have an opportunity to help us win and play games. I was delighted for those young boys coming in (against Burnley).

“I think that we've got some really good young players at this club. "We've already developed people and they've gone on to a higher level. I think there's a couple more in our squad that can do the same thing."