PHIL Parkinson believes City can use all their experience from last season’s epic FA Cup run to avoid a first-round shock at Aldershot.

The National League side are currently 51 places below the Bantams ahead of tomorrow’s showdown at the EBB Stadium.

But Parkinson believes City’s march to the quarter-finals taught them plenty about the pitfalls of taking lower opposition too lightly.

He said: “The gap in quality between teams and players can very quickly be bridged and we’ve got to make sure our attitude is spot on.

“We’re going down there with a big reputation in terms of cup football and we want that upheld.”

City witnessed both sides of the coin last season. Having overcome a torrid start at this stage to get past part-timers Halifax, they went on to become global sensations by stunning Chelsea and Sunderland.

The Aldershot tie is being shown live on TV to 188 countries – although not in Britain – and Parkinson is determined that an upset will not be in the script.

“We’ve got so much experience of cup football in my four years with Bradford,” added the City chief.

“We’ve gone in as underdogs and seen teams who haven’t turned up against us.

“We’ve also seen teams when we’ve been favourites, like the Halifax game. We’ve got to use that experience.

“We have to make sure that we pass on all the knowledge we’ve got, not just on Aldershot but with these past situations, to the players.

“Come Monday morning, we want to ensure there are no headlines about Bradford City.”

The Bantams went 1-0 down just three minutes into last year’s campaign at the Shay before coming from behind. But with a six-game unbeaten stretch behind them, Parkinson expects a much stronger start against the Shots.

He said: “It was a massive lesson. The crowd were up for it and we gave them something straight away.

“We could have made the headlines for the wrong reasons. The FA Cup story for last year could have been a completely different one and that's a warning we’ve got to take into this game.

“We’re aware that Aldershot will raise their game and we’ve got to approach it with the same attitude we’ve shown in recent weeks.

“Halifax were a physical, typical Conference side but Aldershot are more of a footballing team and have got some good players.

“We’ve been down there before and know what it’s like. It’s a tough place and we have to be ready for a really good performance to get ourselves in the hat.”

City’s loan players have been cleared to feature, which means Lee Evans will serve his one-match ban for five bookings.

Reece Burke will be assessed later over the spasm in his hip but Nathan Clarke is expected to replace him for only his fourth start.

Billy Clarke is likely to be on the bench again as he continues his comeback from knee injury. He could get an hour’s run-out for the reserves on Tuesday.

The Irishman was a sub in the Halifax tie and became a pivotal figure, coming on at half-time and setting up both City goals.

He also has good memories of Aldershot – after scoring there as a 16-year-old for Ipswich reserves against Chelsea.

Clarke said: “Chelsea play reserve games there and it was one of my first goals. I can still remember it, up the slope and in the top corner!

“It was shown on Chelsea TV and the whole family bought it for a month back in Ireland. They paid £15 to watch it over and over again.

“We’re probably the biggest team in the cup at this stage after what we’ve done. Everyone has heard of us at some stage last year and Aldershot will want the glory of a giant-killing.

“We’re the ones to be shot at. But if we play to our potential and have our heads screwed on, we’ve got more than enough to get a result.”