PHIL Parkinson will use tonight’s hastily-arranged trip to Park Avenue to run the rule over City’s trialist brigade.

The friendly at Horsfall Stadium was only finalised yesterday but it does give the Bantams boss an opportunity to take a look at the wannabes in match action.

Goalkeeper Matt Urwin will get another chance to press his claims as the back-up to Jordan Pickford after playing in the second half against Ossett Town and his former club Blackburn.

Christopher Routis is also lined up for his third outing as he targets the defensive vacancy left by Matt Taylor’s move to Cheltenham.

Striker Mo Shariff was brought on for the closing minutes on Saturday and will be involved again as well as Bermudian Reggie Lambe, who featured at Ossett last Tuesday, and French forward Achille Campion.

Lambe and Campion were both named in the squad at the weekend but were left on the bench.

With only one more friendly to come against Hartlepool next Saturday, Parkinson had been keen to slot in a competitive test for those on trial.

But numbers cannot be swelled by the youth team because they are away in Holland.

Parkinson said: “All the scholars are away so there will be a lot of trialists. But we need to look at them in a game.

“There’s only so much you can pick up from training. It’s important to see them in a match situation.

“If we leave it any longer, it’s going to impact on the season.

“We’ll have the younger pros playing as well – Oliver McBurnie, Lewis Clarkson and Niall Heaton – but the senior lads just need to train.

“Normally in the last week we have a training ground game and we can still do that.”

Campion, who has been playing his recent football in California, has already been at three other clubs in pre-season. He started off at Sheffield Wednesday, then Ipswich and Yeovil – where he scored with a header against Reading.

There will be a cup up for grabs for the winners tonight – the traditional Tom Banks Memorial Trophy. City currently hold it after winning 1-0 a year ago.

City’s apprentices travelled to Holland yesterday on a trip organised by the LFE (League Football Education).

They will play three games against Dutch opposition as well as taking part in a mini-tournament against teams from Sheffield United, Birmingham and Portsmouth on the penultimate day. They travel back a week on Saturday.

* Admission at Avenue tonight is £10 adults, £5 concessions and free for under-16s and armed forces personnel (on production of their warrant card).