POSING in a sharp designer suit with a collection of awards at his feet, Reece Burke looked every inch the Hollywood “A lister” at a swanky Oscars party.

The youngest member of Phil Parkinson’s team pretty much cleaned up at the club’s prize-giving ceremony at Valley Parade this week.

Nobody would begrudge his trophy haul – on the evidence of the last eight months, Burke is a gifted player in the making.

But while the Valley Parade faithful – and his City team-mates – have showered him with plaudits, the 19-year-old only has to look close to home to find his toughest critic.

“I’ll have an outstanding game and dad will say ‘well done’,” laughed Burke.

“I’ll have an all right game and he’ll say ‘you were bad today’.

“Now I’ve won player of the year, he’ll be like ‘that’s all right!’

“He’s hard to please but that’s because he’s always pushing me on.

“He’ll never say I’ve made it. But that’s what you need because there’s always room for improvement.”

John Burke has put in the miles this season to lend his support, regularly making the seven-hour round trip from London to watch his son at Valley Parade.

While Burke junior reckons his time with City has helped him “become a man”, he is hugely grateful to have family watching on.

He said: “I can’t thank my dad enough. He’s been so supportive and always there for me when I need him.

“Family are the main thing. They are the ones who are going to keep you on the right path and guide you in the right direction.

“They are the ones who want the best for you.

“You can’t trust anyone else apart from your family because they will never lie to you.”

The proud Burke clan were out in force to see the young defender make a regular stroll onto the stage to pick up one award after the other.

They will be there again at Roots Hall this afternoon as City look to take another big step towards the ultimate dream finish at Wembley.

“It’s a good local trip for them,” said Burke. “It’s only about 40 minutes from home so quite a few are going.

“Unfortunately I’ve got to pay for the tickets because we don’t get that many! But it will be worth it to get them all down to watch me.”

They will have noticed a difference in Burke for his year “away”. He certainly feels he has grown up, both on and off the pitch.

“I feel I’ve become a man,” he said. “It’s a man’s game and you need to be a man to play.

“Everything matters about men’s football and each time you step on that pitch you want to get the three points.

“It’s a real game – not like under-21s football where you are playing with people your age and it’s all tiki-taka.

“It’s like with Josh Cullen. Every week he’s getting elbowed, he’s got black eyes, he nearly lost his tooth the other day. That’s because every game means a lot to everyone that plays.

“It’s why I think loan moves are always good for a young player because it helps them grow up.”

Burke has also had to adapt to life away from his family and friends – another part of the process that his parent club West Ham were keen to develop.

He may not be ready for Masterchef just yet but even the cooking has come on.

“It’s going all right now. When I first came up here, I nearly sliced my finger off!

“But recently it’s got better and not too much of a problem. Not everything’s out of a tin.

“Living by myself was another big thing. Wendy (James, City’s player liaison manager) at the club helped me to settle in and I feel I’ve coped with it well.”

As the baby of the bunch in the back four, Burke has been surrounded by defensive experience. Equally at home partnering Rory McArdle or Nathan Clarke, he has also benefited from the know-how of Stephen Darby and James Meredith.

“You learn so much from them. In every game, they are talking and telling you what to do so you pick up stuff all the time.

“Who knows maybe in a few years I’ll be able to do the same with another youngster.

“It’s so valuable what I have learned from coming to Bradford.

“As Phil said at the awards, it’s so competitive in training. Everyone wants to play better than each other.

“So when we go into games, we play as a team. You need that competitive side to training and people fighting for places.

“Look at Hans (James Hanson). Last week he scored a hat-trick but before that he was on the bench.

“You could tell he was waiting for his chance and really took it.

“That’s what has made us a strong team this season because everyone wants to play so much.

“If somebody had told me when I first came in that I’d be player of the year, I’d never have believed them.

“I’m still surprised. It came as a shock to me but a really nice shock.

“There have been some great individual and team performances throughout the season. I’m guessing it was hard for the voters – but I can’t thank them enough.”