City stalwart Greg Abbott wants to be the most unpopular person at Valley Parade this afternoon.

The Carlisle boss makes a sentimental return to the club where he played over 300 times in a nine-year spell.

But any emotion from the occasion will not cloud his desire to ensure City’s first home game back in League One goes flat.

Abbott said: “It does mean a lot (going to Bradford) but it doesn’t alter the way I am. We want the three points to get our season off to a start.

“It’s a great place to go, I know they have momentum and the atmosphere there at the minute is fantastic.

“But I’m not that soft really. It’s a place where I started my career and learned my trade, but I want our lads to go there and get a result.

“I don’t want to go there and be patted on the back because we’ve been beat 1-0 and I’m everybody’s mate.

I want to be hopefully disliked at the end of the game because we’ve won.”

Only Arsene Wenger and Exeter’s Paul Tisdale have been in charge of their clubs longer than Abbott, who is starting his sixth season at the helm. His opposite number today, City chief Phil Parkinson, feels Carlisle’s distant location makes it an even more challenging position.

Parkinson said: “I should imagine it’s a tough club to manage. Geographically it’s a club that needs a hard sell because players have to relocate.

“I had that to a lesser degree at Colchester because it was a difficult place to get to. It was hard to sign players on short-term deals because they didn’t want to move to the area for a year’s contract.

“I know Greg’s got it tougher up there but he’s done a terrific job.”