Stockport County v Bradford City: Early start helping Bantams settle in at higher level

One of half a dozen League One clubs who remain unbeaten, City have made nine new signings so far – and eight were sanctioned by the start of July.

It has afforded them time to 'settle in' and assimilate and crucially get fully up to speed with what manager Graham Alexander demands on the training pitch.

The canny City chief also tailored pre-season accordingly and the fruits of his labours are currently there for all to see.

A new-look line-up look like they have already been together for a fair while – their fine team performance against Luton on Saturday being a case in point.

Alexander, whose side face perhaps their stiffest test yet at Stockport, said: "We had real clear ideas right from day one.

“In the past, the first week or 10 days of pre-season has been generic training, physical training.

“Whereas right from day one, we started talking about how we press, how we make the opponent uncomfortable, how we are connected and have to trust the guy behind us without looking that he’s there.

“All these aspects we banged in from day one because we knew what we wanted to form. Our recruitment was all based around that as well.

“The principles will stay the same. We won’t be a passive team and sit off opponents.

“I know those relationships take a little bit of time to form because trust doesn’t just happen. It’s a feeling and comes from actions.

“You have to have as many of these actions in the six weeks before the season starts for the players to go, ‘I’m not looking but I know he’s there’.

“That’s where our game is based and I think the players have made brilliant strides in that."

At Valley Parade, for sure, City are following last season's template and the early evidence suggests that it will again be a very difficult place for opposing sides.

For Alexander, who is lining up a move for attacking midfielder Nick Powell – currently on Stockport's books – it's the only thing he is keen to replicate regarding 24-25. For him, this is a new Bantams story.

“It’s important we did that,” he added.

“We have to take the positive element from that (last season), the encouragement and confidence that our way of working is good enough to be successful.

“But what we’ve done in the past will not win us another point unless we put those actions into place again and have the same mentality and drive.

“Having new players, I do think it freshens up the environment. It breaks up any pattern of choice that I might have had or the players felt would have been in place.

“It’s a fresh start for everybody. What we’ve done in the past is good but our future now is in front of us, not behind."