DAVID Hopkin reckons the arrival of versatile Anton McElhone as his City number two will ramp up the levels of professionalism within the club.

McElhone’s appointment, as revealed by the Telegraph & Argus last week, was officially confirmed by the club yesterday.

Hopkin’s fellow Scot will be involved in his first training session this morning after watching Saturday’s battling FA Cup comeback at Peterborough.

McElhone, who left MLS side New England Revolution to join City after a decade with Tottenham, has a UEFA coaching A licence as well as being a specialist in sports science.

It’s that expertise in different areas that Hopkin feels can make a significant difference at Valley Parade.

He said: “It would be easy for me to go and get an assistant manager who just does the one position. Maybe most Bradford fans expected that.

“But I’ve always liked people who can do two or three jobs. That’s what he brings to the table.

“Anton has worked with every top player at Spurs on a one-to-one basis to make sure that when they were injured he looked after them to get them back fit as soon as he could.

“So, on the injury prevention side and when players are coming back from injury, he will know how long everybody’s time-frame should be.

“He’s a great lad, who works extremely hard and we’re very lucky to be able to bring him in.”

Hopkin’s friendship with McElhone has built up since they studied their coaching badges in Scotland at the same time.

“I was very interested with how he went about stuff, his coaching and how professional he was.

“He came up to Livingston a couple of times and I went down to Spurs for a few days and watched him working. I was really impressed.

“He has an A licence coaching badge but also knows all the sports science and medical stuff.

“He wanted a change. He was at Spurs for 10 years and wanted to get more into the coaching side.

“Brad Friedel knew him from his time there and when he got the (New England) job, Anton was the first person he contacted to join his backroom staff.

“That again shows how highly he was rated at his job.”

Hopkin believes McElhone’s top-flight experience will benefit the current medical team, physios Chris Royston and Dayle Avison as well as sports scientist Ben Nicholson.

“He wants to learn and to coach,” said the Bantams boss. “We are adding more professionalism to the club and I want people who can make a difference.

“It’s come at a good time for the club and it’s good for the staff that are there, for Chris, Dayle and Ben.

“They will all learn massively off him. He’s here to help everybody and will put a structure in place that will make us better and more professional.

“Ben will learn a lot from his experience and that can only be good. It’s someone who can head up that department and be the link between me and keeping as many players fit as we can.”