MICHAEL Collins reckons City are assembling a squad capable of dealing with the pressure of being among League One’s leading scalps.

Huddersfield winger Sean Scannell’s arrival on the back of the year-long loans for Jack Payne and George Miller has indicated a step-up in quality of signings with the campaign only a fortnight away.

Former skipper Romain Vincelot’s exit for Crawley yesterday further highlighted the changing of the guard at Valley Parade.

National League new boys Harrogate are the next stop in City’s pre-season tomorrow as Collins moulds his side for the big kick-off at Shrewsbury on August 4.

The head coach is chuffed with the recruitment so far and believes there is still room to bring in a couple more to prove City are having “a good go”.

Collins said: “I understand the expectation and size of the club. Whenever you speak to anybody and mention the name Bradford City, it wakes them up and they show an interest.

“We’re lucky in that sense but we’ve been very careful. We do our due diligence on players, get the right characters and the quality right for this club.

“We are a big club in the division, there are no two ways about it.

“We’ll be a scalp for a lot of teams so we need those characters who can come in and handle playing at Valley Parade in front of 15,000.

“They’ve got to have the ability to express themselves and not go under when times get a little bit difficult. That happens in any season, it doesn’t matter whether you’re top of the league or at the bottom.

“You’ll need players to step forward and show what they are about.

“I’m very pleased with the recruitment and we’re working on a few others.

“If we get them in, then I think we’ve got to say we’ve had a really good go at it this summer.

“I’ve got also to thank the chairman for backing us on that side of it. If we get the ones in we want, we’ll certainly be strong going into the season and backing ourselves against anyone.”

Vincelot follows Dominic Poleon to Harry Kewell’s Crawley – the second departure since Collins was appointed and he expects more may leave as the squad numbers grow.

“That’s the nature of football,” added Collins. “When you’ve got a strong squad, there will be some who want to play and maybe don’t get the minutes they are after.

“At this moment, we’re taking everything nice and slow and making sure we get the right recruitment in before we start considering who might be moving out.

“The squad is good, the togetherness is there and everybody is working hard.”