THE focus is on the future as Bradford City Women take on seven of their former players in tomorrow's West Riding County Cup clash with tenth-tier Tyersal.

A number of the Bantams' opposition were involved in their rise to the National Division of the old FA Women's Premier League – including Jayne Barber, who scored the goal which promoted Bradford almost 20 years ago.

But player-manager Charlotte Stuart will put the future of the club in the spotlight this weekend by introducing a number of young players to first-team football.

She said: "I am always keen to get our youngsters involved at every opportunity with our first team. It gives them that well-needed experience.

"I will be watching on Sunday, not playing. Very much like last year, the early rounds of the County Cup give me a chance to be in the dugout and hopefully help those young players too."

Stuart has handed first-team debuts to teenagers Amy Wood and Lucy Preston this season, the former having come through the junior ranks before becoming an integral part of the reserves this year.

Sophie Moulden has followed the same path as Wood and, after being an unused substitute in the previous round of the competition, could play a bigger role this Sunday.

Yet debuts will not just be handed out for fun by Stuart, with victory the priority to boost confidence in the camp.

Despite positive performances, City's winless streak has now stretched to four games – a run they are determined to end tomorrow.

Stuart said: "We've all spoken over the last couple of weeks about keeping positive. The performances are there, we have just been extremely unlucky with our results.

"Psychologically, having the right mindset is key for the next few weeks and certainly a win on Sunday will help that."

Tyersal, meanwhile, warmed up for this cup tie by maintaining their Division Three title challenge in the West Riding County League as goals from Jamielee Lukacs (2) and Lauren Burnett earned a 3-1 win over previously unbeaten Phoenix.