MICHAEL Collins is the new head coach of Bradford City, the club have announced.

He will be assisted by Greg Abbott and Martin Drury.

Collins played over 300 league games as a midfielder for clubs including Huddersfield, Scunthorpe, Oxford and Leyton Orient.

He has been under-18s coach at Valley Parade since joining City last summer.

At 32, this will be his first senior coaching appointment but he has achieved his UEFA A licence.

Collins said: “I’ve been working towards this for a lot of years now. Even when I was playing at Oxford I was coaching locally, and when I was at Leyton Orient I’d be in at Spurs’ training ground as often as I could.

"We’ve all been fortunate enough to have had the chance to observe the previous managers at the club and we’ve seen first-hand the way that they worked. We can take a lot of positives from what we’ve seen over the last two  years.

“It also helps that Greg, Martin and I all know the training ground set-up very well too, so there won’t be any surprises when we get started for pre-season.”

Chairman Edin Rahic confirmed that Collins, Abbott and Drury have been given three-year contracts.

He said: "Michael and Martin are both talented British coaches, who posses a lot of potential. Together with Greg’s experience we have a very good blend in the coaching team.

“All three of them really understand the club, share our vision and believe in what we’re trying to achieve.”