DAVID Ball is hoping to prove a cut above the rest on his home debut tomorrow.

The striker’s capture on a season-long loan looks a potential snip after his influential entrance from the bench at Blackpool last week.

Now he is aiming to brush aside Charlton Athletic in his first taste of Valley Parade in City colours – and potentially earn himself a bonus from the barber’s.

Ball said: “I’m really looking forward to walking out at Valley Parade. It was a big reason why I signed here to play in front of the big crowd.

“I’ve got quite a few friends who are Bradford fans as well in Cleckheaton.

“It’s a long story but I get my hair cut over there. They are all big Bradford supporters so I know how much it means to them.

“I’ve always been interested in coming here and trying to play for the club – and maybe I’ll get a cheap hair cut now.”

Ball claimed an assist for Jack Payne’s goal at Blackpool which fired City 2-0 up and seemingly on the way to victory in David Hopkin’s first game at the helm.

And it needed strong hands from keeper Mark Howard to prevent Ball blasting a third and putting the game well beyond Pool’s reach before the dramatic table-turning finale.

“It would have been the perfect start,” he admitted. “It was one of those games where we cost ourselves.

“But there were still a lot of positives and you could see everyone is buying into what we worked on in the week with the new manager.

“It’s probably going to take three or four weeks for him to really get the input he wants. But we’ve taken to it as much as we can and everyone is quite positive.

“On that note, we’re looking forward to improving and start winning some football matches.”

Ball is well qualified not to panic about early setbacks after clinching promotion with Rotherham last season.

The Millers were still in the bottom half in December before launching on a run that would clinch fourth spot and eventual success at Wembley.

That was ironically triggered by a win at Blackpool – when Ball netted a late double after current City team-mate Kelvin Mellor had struck first for the hosts.

Ball added: “We hadn’t won in 10 games but then beat Blackpool and from then on, everyone trusted what we were doing.

“We went on a 14-game unbeaten run and didn’t look back from that.

“So, I’ve played in this league enough to know you get a couple of wins under your belt and a bit of confidence and you never know where you can go.”

Hard work and organisation have been the main themes behind Hopkin’s approach to the squad since taking the helm 10 days ago. Ball has seen what that can achieve.

“I came from that type of regime at Rotherham and that bodes well for us, in terms of we got promoted last year.

“We had a team that ran through walls together and I think that’s what he’s trying to bring in here.

“If we do work hard enough as a team, we’ve got enough good players to score goals.

“I had a few options before coming here but I had a look at the team and felt if we get it right, it could be a really good place to enjoy my football.”