Why FA Cup cash 'assurances' do not concern Graham Alexander - should Bradford City progress to round three

Having already banked £45,000 for their round one success over Aldershot, City will receive an additional £75,000 should they get past Derek Adams’ Morecambe on Saturday and earn a place in the draw for the third round.

With the opening of the transfer window just over a month away, it would constitute a tidy sum and could well be opportune.

For his part, manager Graham Alexander is solely focusing on the things he can control.

Questioned whether he would be seeking assurances regarding any cup money being used for recruitment, he said: "I don’t do that.

"It’s what we need for the team. That’s my prerogative and responsibility to say how we play and what we need to be successful.

"The budget and financial aspects are not my responsibility.

"I’m not in charge of any fees we have to pay or what contracts we give to players.

"I have a contribution as an experienced manager and football operator, but it’s not down to me to push the button on those things.

"It would be pointless seeking that (assurance). I trust the people that I work for have the same ambitions as me and that’s to create a winning team, a successful squad and try and win this season.

"I don’t really need to ask those questions, to be honest."

For Alexander, the kudos of winning through to the third round, one of the blue riband weekends in the football calendar, would sit well with him and his players and staff, but you certainly will not catch him stressing about financial consequences.

He added: "You hear me say regularly there are no negatives to winning.

"The financial aspect is secondary to me. The winning alone is the main drive for me and my players.

"Obviously football clubs being businesses and having to operate, you can get prize money and it can go into the pot to help you strengthen the squad.

"That’s an added bonus to winning those games of football. But it’s not something we’ll talk about in the team meeting or bring up in the changing room.

"Obviously, when we have these conversations nearer to January when we’re negotiating with players and trying to bring them in, then we’ll understand where we got the money from to do those things."

Defender Lewis Richards could return to action on Saturday, just a fortnight after having his left shoulder popped back in after landing awkwardly in the league game at Colchester.

Richards returned to training this week, with Alex Pattison and Aden Baldwin also back working with the first-team squad.

On Richards, Alexander added: "I’ll be led by Lewis. We’re not putting untold pressure on him.

"There were two or three options open to Lewis on the recovery process.

"He wanted to take the fastest one back because he feels it’s strong and he’s got good movement in it. It’s just the chance of it reoccurring is always going to be there."