No grumble weeds here, as Parkinson praises Bradford City players' strength of character (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

No grumble weeds here, as Phil Parkinson praises Bradford City players' strength of character

6:30am Tuesday 14th February 2012 in Bantams By Simon Parker

Matt Fry is set to make his City debut against Port Vale in the absence of the ill Robbie Threlfall

Phil Parkinson praised City’s strong characters for refusing to moan as they emerge from the unexpected winter break.

The Valley Parade clash with Port Vale tonight will be the first game for either side since January 28.

City have been forced to look all over the area for training venues during the sudden wintry snap.

And Parkinson has been delighted with the way his players have reacted to the constant upheaval.

He said: “It’s been frustrating but the attitude of the lads has been very good. They’ve been pushed from pillar to post, coming in every morning and not knowing where they’ve got to go.

“Weaker players look to make excuses. Stronger ones get on with it and we haven’t had any complaints.

“I’m pleased with the characters we’ve got in the building. That’s been reflected in the last few weeks when they’ve shown good professionalism to get on with whatever we’ve put in front of them.”

With Robbie Threlfall just recovering from illness, Matt Fry is set to go straight in for his debut at left back.

Parkinson has problems on the right, where Rob Kozluk sits out his delayed one-game ban against the club where he played earlier in the season. Simon Ramsden is still out, though could be back for the weekend.

Parkinson added: “You write the squad on the board and see we’ve got cover in every area. We look strong.

“The balancing act we have got is not to play people when they’re not ready.

“In our eagerness to get the best players out on the pitch, we could lose them for longer. We can’t be too anxious.

“But Matty’s had about ten days training with us and we’ve got some good sessions into him.

“He’s in the same boat as Rammers really because he needs a few reserve games. But he will come into contention very quickly.”

After Leeds allowed City to use the Thorp Arch indoor complex over the weekend, Parkinson’s players trained on the Valley Parade pitch yesterday.

He said: “It’s heavy but the groundsman Mick (Doyle) has done a great job. I told him we didn’t have any choice.

“I can’t remember the last time we’d played on grass. The training pitch was still frozen so we had to go down there.”