CITY will be Valley Parade underdogs against Sheffield United tomorrow for what Stuart McCall is billing "the biggest game in the division".

Chris Wilder's Blades have taken 23 points from a possible 27 in a nine-match unbeaten run and offer a stiff challenge for the second-placed Bantams.

But McCall believes his side can relish the task of trying to topple the "benchmark" team in League One.

The City boss said: "This will be a real test for our lads. Sheffield United will undoubtedly be in the top six. But if you can't look forward to a game like this then you shouldn't be in football.

"I had five fantastic years at Sheffield United and have got a lot of respect for people there. I had a great relationship with the supporters.

"They've found a good system, they've got goal-scorers in the side and are playing with confidence.

"People were saying six weeks ago that they were struggling but once Chris got his ideas down, you look at the squad and a lot of them have been Championship players.

"For me, being a bit biased, it's the biggest game in this league because of the rivalry and the size of the clubs."

James Meredith is making progress and hopes to be back in contention after sitting out the Southend draw with a leg injury.

The left back's forward momentum was missed on Tuesday when McCall made four changes – but the City boss denied that was too many.

McCall said: "It wasn't a case of tinkering for tinkering's sake. I watched Tim (Dieng) at Oxford and it looked like he did need a breather and Billy Clarke had played a lot of football.

"I thought it was time for Rory McArdle to come in because of Nile Ranger's physical attributes and the other changes were to freshen it up a little bit.

"Look at our goal. It was (Haris) Vuckic to (Marc) McNulty, two of the new ones starting. It's going to be a long season and plenty of people will be chomping at the bit to get a game."

City did make a call about McNulty facing his parent club but Wilder shot them down – and McCall admitted he would have done the same.

Midfielder Nicky Law, who began his career at Bramall Lane, said: "We've had a couple of results we didn't want. But if I could have picked a game this weekend, it would be this one."