MARK Bower feels that his players are looking forward to Saturday's derby almost as much as he is as his Bradford Park Avenue side host his former employers Bradford City.

Avenue prepared for the Bantams’ visit with an opening friendly at Campion in midweek, cruising to a 6-1 win at Scotchman Road, and the Bradford-born former City skipper said: “Tuesday was perfect for us in terms of having a real game.

“The players were ready for a test after a couple of very good training sessions, and the new lads and existing players got some very important game time in and we were also able to look at some of the trialists.

“It was a game against a team that we knew we would have a lot of the ball against and it gave our attackers a chance to show what they’re all about.

"This derby will provide us with a completely different test.

“Against the full-time professionals in Stuart’s (McCall) squad, we will be without the ball a lot and we’ll have to work on the defensive side of the game.

"City will have their new signings on show, and that should bring in a decent crowd and make it a great day.”

Bower will be in the opposite dug out to Stuart McCall, a man he knows well, and he is looking forward to meeting up with quite a few other old friends, but he is also aware that there have been lots of changes at Valley Parade since he left the club.

“It’ll be nice to see some old faces and I’m probably looking forward to it more than the players because of who the opposition is,” said Bower.

“It’s great to see them building solid foundations again and it’s a nice change from when I was there. We were slipping down the league in those days, going in the opposite direction.

“Obviously the playing squad has changed since but I still know most of the management and coaching staff and some of the officials.

"I don’t really know much about the new owners, just what I’ve heard from friends still in the club and all of the comments coming back are very positive.

“They are not paying silly money for big names but are bringing in young players with a lot of talent and hunger for the game who will have a good re-sale value, and that’s what’s needed to ensure the club is secure in the long term.

“While they didn’t get promotion last season, they had a very good season and they’re in a great position to push on again this time.

"The new owners have stuck with the offer of reduced season-ticket prices to give the fans affordable football.

“As a fan you can’t ask for anything more from the club at the moment and I wish them every success.”