Julian Rhodes hopes to get Phil Parkinson secured at Valley Parade once Wembley is over.

The City joint-chairman confirmed that contract talks with Parkinson will resume after the Capital One Cup final is out of the way.

Rhodes said: “There’s been a lot going on and we’ve just decided we are going to leave it until after the cup final. Hopefully a week or two after that we’ll be in the position to agree a new deal.

“There have been a few conversations about what the deal may be. But everybody wants to focus on Sunday.”

City will leave Bradford tomorrow morning and Parkinson is relishing the chance to train on decent facilities at the team hotel.

He said: “I can’t remember the last time we trained on grass. We’ve been on an artificial pitch every day and that’s got to impact on the lads’ legs.

“The two chairmen have been great letting us stay down the extra day before the final. We’ve worked hard to get here so we want to make the most of it.

“We want the lads to be able to look back in years to come and remember how we made it special for them – not just the game but also the build-up.”

Parkinson will also take the squad to Wembley on Saturday morning to look round the stadium. He hopes that will take away the shock factor the following day.

He explained: “I think it’s important to get a feel for the place. We don’t want to go there and have people taking photographs on the day of the game.

“Let’s soak it all in and then we’ll know what to expect come Sunday.

“Am I getting nervous? Not really. At the moment there’s so much to think about and to organise.

“Myself, Steve (Parkin) and the rest of the staff have blocked out as much as we can. We’ve got loads to sort out.”