FOUR weeks after their 5-1 win over Newcastle, Bradford City Women return to league action next weekend and will spend tomorrow afternoon preparing as such.

With hardly any postponements so far this season, City have raced ahead of their league rivals in games played and are now slowly coming to the end of their campaign.

The Bantams visit last season's champions West Bromwich Albion next Sunday but have not played since facing Super League side Doncaster Belles in a friendly on January 19.

With that in mind, City player-manager Charlotte Stuart has preparations in place to get the team back up to speed.

"We've got an in-house friendly this Sunday to keep the first team ticking over," she said.

"We've got six games left in the league, starting with a trip to West Brom next week, so we want to be sharp and well prepared to finish the season strongly."

City currently sit third in the table, albeit without being in the title race which Blackburn Rovers are leading heavily. So protecting that position is the priority, as is building momentum to take into next season.

Skipper Charlotte Oates has already stated the club's desire to challenge for the title in 2017-18, so the remaining games are certainly not without meaning.

Stuart will be looking at some promising players in City's second team who could well play a bigger part next year as well, with tomorrow presenting another chance to experiment.

"Laura Elford is out for a few weeks after straining ligaments in our last friendly, so we'll have to make a change up front this weekend," said the Bantams player-boss.

"That's not a problem though. Sunday is a chance for us to look at a couple of reserves players who have caught the eye recently, so we'll certainly be doing that."