LIKE David Hopkin, his opposite number this weekend, you suspect this isn’t the most wonderful time of the year for Derek Adams.

The Plymouth boss is just as eager as his fellow Scot to get through Christmas and ring in the new year – which heralds the opening of the transfer window.

Third-from-bottom Argyle hover nervously two points ahead of the Bantams as the survival battle starts to intensify.

And while Plymouth have form for hauling themselves well clear following a remarkable second half of last season, Adams is eyeing the security of fresh faces arriving next month.

He said: “We have identified the areas we want to strengthen, and we have identified the players we would like to try to take in.

“We have done that over the January periods before and been very successful. It definitely helps the squad just by taking in a number of new players.

“We have got more than one or two players for each position because it sometimes becomes a difficult month with a lot of other clubs in for the same player.”

Plymouth have not been helped by a number of defensive injuries.

Captain Gary Sawyer has been sidelined since September with a broken foot although he is set to return to training after the weekend.

Conor Grant, who has deputised at left back in his absence, has also been out for a month.

Centre half Scott Wootton, another absentee, could be fit to train again by the end of next week.

But Ryan Edwards could be back in the middle of the back four after recovering from a chest infection. He came through 75 minutes in a reserve game on Tuesday.

Edwards has not appeared since October 20 but Adams hinted that he could be in the mix to face City.

Adams said: “All we are trying to do now is speed up the recovery time by working them hard in training, and if there is a game then we will play them.”