MARK Lawn believes York City will be desperate to cut serial giant-killers Bradford down to size in the Capital One Cup.

The Bantams will face their White Rose rivals at Bootham Crescent in the first round of a competition they famously reached the final of in 2013.

Phil Parkinson’s men enjoyed more success in the cups last term, dumping Leeds United out of the League Cup before an incredible run to the FA Cup quarter-finals for the first time since 1976.

That included an amazing win against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge before Sunderland were sent packing from Valley Parade in round five.

The League Two Minstermen last faced Parkinson’s side in March 2013, when goals from James Hanson and Garry Thompson sealed a 2-0 win at York.

“We have got to be wary of the fact that we will be a big scalp for York City,” said joint-chairman Lawn.

“Not necessarily because we are Yorkshire rivals and we play one league above them, but because of what we have achieved in the cups in recent seasons.

“It’s harder every time we play in a cup competition because we have this reputation as giantkillers, and rightly so.

“Bradford City would be a big scalp for a team like York to take at such an early stage of the season.”

Lawn is big pals with York counterpart Jason McGill but he will miss the match, due to be played the week commencing August 10, as it clashes with a holiday he has planned with his wife Yvonne, who is currently fighting cancer.

Lawn said: “I’ll have to send my apologies to Jason but my wife is very ill and we are managing to get her away on a cruise.

“It’s a shame I’m missing it because I would have liked to have got together with Jason and caught up with him, but obviously Yvonne comes first.

“Jason is one of the nicest chairmen in the league and I always look at York and hope they do well, obviously apart from when they play us when I hope they now get knocked out!

“We will have to make sure we get through to the next round but it will be a hard game there because it’s a tight little ground.

“If it’s a nice night, I can see a lot of our fans getting the train up, having a few beers and then hopefully enjoy seeing us win.

“If we do anything in the cup competitions, it goes into Phil’s playing budget to spend throughout the year.

“It’s very worthwhile then that we make progress in the cup competitions, especially in the later rounds.”

The Football League fixtures are announced this morning while Lawn said it was quiet behind the scenes at Valley Parade with regards to contract talks with players.

He explained: “At this time of year, it’s just about talking with players generally.

“I know some clubs have done business very early but if you’re looking for the quality of players that we are trying to bring in, those players will not sign before they go away on holiday.

“They want to make sure they talk to everybody and cover all possibilities. What we are doing now is trying to encourage them to sign for us.”

York boss Russ Wilcox is aiming to plot the Bantams’ downfall and said: “First and foremost, you would like a home draw and we have got that.

“It's against Bradford City, who are just down the road, and they will bring plenty of support so it’s all set up to be a cracking night.

“Interestingly, we have tried really hard to get Bradford City in pre-season. We didn't quite manage it between Phil Parkinson and me but ironically we do now get to play each other.”