Doyle keen for Bradford City momentum to gather pace (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Nathan Doyle keen for Bradford City momentum to gather pace

6:40am Friday 28th September 2012 in Bantams By Simon Parker, Bradford City Reporter

Nathan Doyle is happy with the way City are gelling

Just when you thought we’d seen the back of the atrocious forecasts, Nathan Doyle is predicting an avalanche.

But don’t panic with the winter survival kit just yet. According to the teak-tough midfielder, the only ones likely to be submerged are City’s future opponents.

Doyle is fast warming to his task in his second spell at Valley Parade . Like Gary Jones, his other half in the engine room, he can see improvements with every game.

He said: “We’ve done well in the first eight games in the league. We’re really gelling together now.

“There have been a lot of changes in the summer and at the start of the season it was a bit different for everyone. But now we’re winning games and playing well.

“With this busy period, we can take the performance from one game straight into the next. That momentum keeps snowballing and hopefully it can turn into an avalanche.”

The Doyle and Jones double act is arguably the best central midfield in League Two and the former Barnsley battler is amazed by the non-stop graft of his supposedly veteran team-mate.

Doyle said: “Gaz is 35 but he plays like he’s 25. I hope I can do that when I’m his age.

“But that’s a credit to him. He has kept himself fit and does the right things around the club day in, day out.

“It’s working well with us. Gaz has got the experience and we’re both talkers through the game. It also helps when the team are doing well.

“If you’re getting results then people stand out, it’s not just us. The back four have been doing a good job and the front two and wingers.

“Everybody understands their jobs and sticks to the basics. Once you get those foundations in place, then hopefully we can express ourselves.”

Phil Parkinson has been keen to engender that team mentality since putting this squad together – and Doyle insists that players are not frightened to have a word if they feel others are letting standards drop.

He said: “If anybody starts slacking, then everyone is on their case. It’s a good thing for a winning team.

“If someone’s not doing their job, it’s not only down to the manager and his staff to tell them. We’ve got that mentality within the squad that we’ll tell each other between the players.

“Nothing’s personal. You’re with the lads every day so you know they don’t mean anything by it.

“If anything, they are trying to help you improve. As long as we can keep building as a team, then everything’s good.”

Doyle was restricted to the role of chief cheerleader from the bench on Tuesday as City roared into the Capital One Cup last 16 on a night of gut-wrenching tension.

It was the fourth win on the bounce and sets up perfectly tomorrow’s clash with fellow high-fliers Port Vale.

“We knew it was ‘roll your sleeves up’ time a few weeks back when we came off at Rotherham with a bad defeat,” said Doyle.

“It wasn’t a case of ‘oh, we’ve lost, keep your head down’ because everybody wanted to get straight back out into a winning mentality. We knew the areas where we could improve.

“The response since has been amazing but at the same time we need to keep our feet on the ground.

“Every week is a big one and we’re just looking to take the momentum from the Burton game into Port Vale.”