MICHAEL Collins was happy to see City come through their first pre-season friendly unscathed.

The Bantams were beaten 2-1 at Guiseley tonight, despite taking the lead through first-year pro Reece Powell.

Head coach Collins changed his team completely at half-time and was pleased to give 22 players some game-time.

He said: “In pre-season, you do all the work in the build-up to the first game but it’s good for everyone to get out there on the pitch.

“I’ve been there as a player and it’s always difficult that first game. Regardless of what you’ve done in preseason, it feels like you’re carrying a caravan on your back.

“There’s no excuses now, they’ve got that first 45 minutes under their belt. That’s all we were concerned about tonight and we’ve come through with a clean bill of health.

“It will get easier now. The more games you play, you catch that second wind quicker.”

Powell’s header in the first minute of the second half was cancelled out by Will Hatfield. Scott Smith fired Guiseley’s winner late on.

Collins added: “I’m not concerned by the result. Some games in pre-season you win 6-0, others you lose and it doesn’t make any difference.

“Obviously you want to win games and put a marker down. We wanted to win but I’m not sat here panicking because we lost 2-1.

“There are things we’ve seen that we can take positives from.

“But there’s a lot we can work on. We’ve only been back in the building for nine or 10 days.

“Credit to Guiseley who had a good go at it second half for the last 20-25 minutes.”

City, who go to York next on Saturday, are planning to add another game to their warm-up schedule on Tuesday, July 24.