PHIL Parkinson reckons City are reaping the rewards from the absence of any midweek games.

Saturday’s stunning win at Preston made it back-to-back victories on the road for the Bantams and hopefully signals an upturn in fortunes.

Parkinson has been able to work his squad much harder during the week because there are no Tuesday night matches disrupting the training schedule – as it stands, the next one is not until February.

He said: “The standard in training has been excellent. We have had a few weeks when we’ve been able to really up the ante in terms of intensity because we haven’t had the midweek games.

“I feel we’re now reaping the benefits of that hard work and preparation. It’s good to spend time on the training ground and we’ve enjoyed that.

“It makes a difference and hopefully the weather is kind to us again so we can have another full week leading up to the Gillingham game.”

Ahead of the FA Cup derby at The Shay, Parkinson had called for a win to get City’s season going again after a run of four defeats in five.

After surviving that potential giant-killing, their unexpected success at Deepdale steadied the position in mid-table going into a run of home games.

Parkinson added: “We all knew the Halifax result was a big one for the club and that was a very important win. Some people might say it was only against a team from the Conference but it was still a good result.

“You don’t always get what you deserve, like the Doncaster game. But if you’ve got a team of really committed players, then it gives you a great chance.

“We knew if we kept doing the right things during the week and making sure our preparation is thorough, we would get the rewards.

“Preston’s home record speaks for itself and going there after they’d lost two away games, we knew there was going to be a determination to bounce back.

“They also had nearly all their players who were supposed to be away on international duty. So the team sheet surprised us a bit.

“But we rose to the challenge really well and fully deserved it. Now we’ve got another good week to look forward to on the training ground.”