Meredith confident of taking step up with Bantams in his stride (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

James Meredith confident of taking step up with Bradford City in his stride

7:00am Monday 16th July 2012 in Sport By Simon Parker, Bradford City Reporter

James Meredith is looking forward to some good pitches and decent crowds in League Two next season

James Meredith can handle anything thrown at him with City after his non-league grounding.

The Australian left back is the only member of York’s promotion-winning side to leave this summer.

Meredith has settled well with his new club in pre-season but he looks back on his three years with the Minster-men as a valuable learning experience.

He said: “I don’t believe it is that big a step-up from where I was before but it will be a bit different football-wise.

“What you’ll find is that the conditions and surfaces are probably going to be better in the league.

“Down in the Conference, it’s more bang, bosh, stick it in row Z. And the atmosphere is very different.

“There were days when you go to some grounds and there’d be only be a couple of hundred people.

“It’s a difficult league and a real achievement getting out of it.

“I’ve experienced all sides of the spectrum, higher leagues to lower ones. Hopefully I can use that and push on again.”

Meredith’s decision to move on did not go down well with everyone at York but he is confident it was the right decision.

“There are a few bitter fans angry at me leaving but the majority wished me luck and appreciated what I had done. They were really good times.

“Gary Mills (York manager) has helped me develop as a player. He’s very good at managing and developing individuals, seeing what your weaknesses are and working on them.

“It was fantastic to finally win our way out of that league. Now it’s about me pushing on and hopefully getting out of this division with Bradford.”

Meredith is the least experienced of Phil Parkinson’s seven signings but he believes City have struck the right balance between old heads and youth.

“It is a good mix here with some real experience. There are players with decent ability.

“Jonah (Gary Jones) is looking very sharp in training. You can see he’s got really good ability with the ball.

“Thommo (Garry Thompson) is another good player with a lot of experience and Andrew Davies is similar.

“That will really show when we get out on the pitch.”