Brad Halliday hoping to extend Bantams season in play-offs

Halliday last night picked up six trophies at the club’s awards evening on the back of his selection in the League Two team of the season.

His current deal runs out in the summer but City have an option to keep the star performer of their campaign for a further year.

Discussions over new deals within the squad are scheduled for the end of the season – and Halliday would jump at the chance to put those back if it all falls into place against Newport on Saturday.

He said: “We’ve got one massive game left and will do our best to win it and see where that takes us.

“If it means delaying the contracts for another couple of weeks, then I’m more than happy.

READ MORE: Smallwood shows City how to handle criticism

“It’s something I got my head round very early on that the talks don’t happen until the last ball is kicked.

“My mindset is clear, it has been all season. Every time I put on the shirt and cross that white line I’ll give 100 per cent for the club, myself and my family.

“It’s a bridge we’ll cross when we get there.”

The 28-year-old admitted he was overwhelmed by his prize haul and the personal plaudits he has received from City fans.

“It’s the biggest privilege that you could get. The amount of support I’ve had personally this season has been amazing.

“I’ve always given 100 per cent throughout my career and, going forward, I always will. It’s something I won’t change.

“For the fans to recognise that and award that is very humbling. I feel very proud.

“Sometimes it’s probably a position that gets overlooked.

“That’s maybe with how the season has gone. It hasn’t been pretty and we’ve struggled at times but I’ll always work hard, regardless of the result.”

Halliday was also named the players’ player of the year – a coveted award judged by the those around him.

“We spend a lot of time with each other almost every day. We travel to away games together, stay overnight together, we do our gym work etc.

“That was the one I really wanted – again I’m very proud and I couldn’t have done it without them.

“They are my team-mates, we work hard for each other and we’ve got one more big game coming up, which you never know what might happen.”

City’s dramatic transformation in fortunes has given them a fighting chance on the final weekend.

A fifth straight win would be enough to lift them into seventh – providing Barrow lose to Mansfield and Crawley fail to beat Grimsby.

Having been nine points off a month ago, Halliday admits he did not expect to be anywhere near the shake-up.

“We weren’t in a good place after the Harrogate game coming off the back of the other losses,” he added. “We thought that was probably our season done.

“To pick ourselves up from that and show the performances we have done over the last few weeks to be in with a chance is credit to ourselves.

“Hopefully we win the game and who knows. But if we don’t make it, we want to finish strong and it’s a positive going into next season.

“We’ve seen strange things happen on the last day, so I don’t think it’s out the equation.

“Probably too many times this season we’ve said we haven’t been consistent enough. We’ve won a few games, then lost a few and it can’t be like that if you want to be successful.

“You’ve got to find results when you aren’t playing well. Look at the teams at the top who have got promotion.

“They will have played games this season when they’ve probably been battered by someone that’s maybe mid-table.

“It’s about bouncing back from that rather than taking two or three games. It’s a blip for them, it’s only one game and the following week they get back to winning ways.

“Too many times we’ve followed a defeat with another one and then another. Ultimately that’s what costs you at the end of the season when you look back at the dropped points.”

City are expecting a bumper crowd to see if they can sneak up on the blindside – having not been near the play-off places all season.

Brad Halliday scores against Morecambe - the first of his four goals (Image: Thomas Gadd)

It’s a bonus hit but Halliday promises they will give it everything.

“There is always a little bit of drama on the last day and we’re amongst that,” he said. “We were last season but it was in our own hands then.

“We’ve seen strange things happen on the last day, so I don’t think it’s out the equation.

“The fans deserve it after the season we’ve had and it gives them something to shout about.

“We’d have loved to have done that for 46 games, sitting somewhere near the top of the league like last year.

“They’ve come and supported us again week in, week out and it hasn’t been a great season. We’re the ones who have let ourselves down.

“It’s funny saying it but we’re still in with a chance of making it a successful one.

“It could be a completely different story come Saturday – and who knows the momentum we would have if we did get in.”