BANTAMS boss Graham Alexander has admitted the surprise absence of a midweek game has had its upsides.

City were due to face Barrow on Tuesday night, but the game was called off that morning due to a waterlogged pitch up at Holker Street.

That has allowed a few of those who were major injury doubts for the clash in Cumbria for tomorrow’s League Two clash at Salford.

Speaking to the T&A this afternoon, Alexander said: “Other than Sam Stubbs, Alex Pattison and Jake Young, everyone else’s in contention to play on Saturday.

“I’ll have to assess if the guys who are returning from injury are at the level we need to win a game of football.

“But it’s only those three I know for a fact won’t be playing.”

Alexander also revealed that while Stubbs and Pattison are back in training, City fans are unlikely to see them play again this season.

Bradford Telegraph and Argus: Alex Pattison began the season brightly with City, but has been plagued by injury problems for much of it.Alex Pattison began the season brightly with City, but has been plagued by injury problems for much of it. (Image: Tom Pearson.)

He explained: “Sam and Alex have been out for quite a while, so we need to give them the opportunity to be fully ready to play again.

“There are only a few games left of the season, and there’s still a sort of protocol around rehabilitating players and not just throwing them back in there.

“The game being called off the other day gave us the opportunity to give those guys further training sessions.

“We’re probably unlikely to see Sam or Alex before the end of the season though, and it’s a similar situation for both of them.

“To push somebody really hard for maybe one or two games at the end of the season when the reward might not be that great, the level of risk is too much.

“They’re out on the training pitch with us sporadically, but I think it’ll be too much of a push for them to be available again before the end of the season.

“If there were different circumstances, the risk might be worth of it, but we don’t think that’s the case.”