Graham Alexander upbeat at Bradford City budget prediction

The Bantams chief has been running the rule over the current squad – particularly with how they have reacted since last month’s slump that blew a hole in their play-off hopes.

As reported in the T&A yesterday, the club are also exploring their chances of keeping Tyreik Wright and Daniel Oyegoke.

But without knowing the exact amount yet, Alexander is confident that Stefan Rupp will provide the necessary backing for the summer market.

He said: “It’s difficult to have a set figure at this stage because obviously our season-ticket sales go into that. We don’t know where that will finish up.

“We have a lot of contracted players for next season. Will they all be here? We don’t know.

“We don’t know what we’ll bring in with player sales or trades and people moving on.

“It’s a fluid figure but certainly one we feel will be competitive in next season’s division.

“We’ve got a few estimates about what other clubs will have. That’s been communicated to me.

“There have been assurances that it will be a budget that will allow us to compete against the better teams in this division – or what that division might look like.

“It’s not just about having the finance but spending it wisely. If we do that, then we’ll be a competitive team at the right end of the table.

“There’s a lot of hard work that has to go into that as well.”

City go into the final three fixtures having picked up 10 points out of a possible 12 since their four-game collapse last month.

Alexander has been watching that response closely and insists it must continue.

“We wanted to see who was going to respond in the right manner,” he added.

“Next season, however good we will be, we will not be perfect. We will have difficult moments and bad results.

“If you can’t manage those with the expectation at our club, then I don’t know how you can help us going forward.

“There have been lots of one-on-one meetings, analysis and reviews to see if each individual can respond in the way we know they’ll have to for us to be a successful team.

“The majority of those guys have done that for us and for themselves and the team.

“I’ve been really impressed with how they have responded. But can we extend it again?

“That judgement call is going to go all the way through to the end of the season.

City have won three of their last four games after the March slump (Image: Thomas Gadd)

“If we go back a step, how far have we improved if it only lasted four games?

“The challenge for us all is to carry on where we left off in the last game.”

Alexander confirmed that City want to talk to parent clubs Brentford and Plymouth about Oyegoke and Wright.

“It’s all right talking to one of the parties, either the club or the player. But without all the information from all sides, we can’t make decisions.

“Ultimately, we’re not in control of this decision. It’s got to come from the other two parties, the parent club, the player and then we’re third on the list.

“But we can show our intentions of what we potentially want to do going forward with these players.

“When we think about how we want our team to play, the standards we require in the training ground and how we go about our business, those individuals certainly represent the best of those attributes.

“It would be great to do something but we’re a long way from that.”