CITY have never lost to Fleetwood – but one player in their ranks tonight has recent experience of that.

The Bantams are unbeaten in seven meetings with the Cod Army, including two draws and a win at Highbury.

But Kevin Toner was not so fortunate when he made the trip to the west coast in December.

The young Aston Villa centre half, on loan for the rest of the season, was part of the Walsall side beaten 2-1 by Uwe Rosler’s in-form team.

“Give them their dues, they have some good players,” admitted the 20-year-old defender.

“It wasn’t the best of results being at Walsall at the time – but Fleetwood are a decent team.

“They like to play good football as well, like Bradford, so it will be an entertaining game.”

Toner is still waiting to make his first impression with the Bantams. He has sat on the bench twice since his arrival as the last of the four deadline-day additions to Stuart McCall’s squad.

The Republic of Ireland under-20 international had not anticipated going anywhere and only got the call on the day.

But having made 20 appearances for the Saddlers in the first half of the season, he jumped at the opportunity for more League One experience.

Toner said: “You want to be out there learning your trade. It’s not the same playing for the under-23s, where they don’t have so many games.

“I know it’s going to be tough in League One but the quality is still good. As a young defender, you have to show you’re there to stand up for yourself.

“You have to learn quickly when you’re out on loan and be able to handle yourself on and off the pitch.

“You’re out of your comfort zone. You don’t know what to expect and each situation is completely new, so you’ve got to deal with it.”

Toner, an Ireland team-mate of Josh Cullen, should not be fazed by the prospect of trying something out of the ordinary.

He was thrown in at the deep end by Villa towards the end of their relegation from the Premier League and featured in the final four games against Southampton, Watford, Newcastle and Arsenal.

“Obviously the season wasn’t the best at all for the club but personally I was very happy,” he said.

“I was delighted to play in the Premier League at such a young age for a club like Villa and the fans took to me. They knew I always give 100 per cent.

“But you did have to pinch yourself looking round at some of the players we were facing.

“We played Arsenal away in the last game and then I went to the Euros to watch Ireland and was seeing some of the players I’d been up against a couple of weeks before. It was mad!”