DAVID Hopkin has a new year wish to stay for as long as he can at City.

The resurgent Bantams are eyeing a fourth win in five attempts as they see in 2019 this afternoon in a Valley Parade clash with Accrington.

Stanley boss John Coleman recently celebrated 1,000 games in management – well over 800 of them with the Lancashire club in a 17-year association over two spells.

Hopkin insists that stability has enabled his opposite number to forge the club how he wants – something he did with Livingston and hopes to get the chance to do again.

He said: “When you’re at a club for a long time, you can build things.

“John has been fantastic at Accrington. They’ve got a structure of how they play and are very well organised.

“It’s momentum and that’s what I’ve always talked about when I go to clubs.

“When I was at Livingston, they’d only be going 21 years and had something like 20 managers. It was crazy.

“I said when I took the job there that they needed to let me build something. Do that and you’ll reap the rewards.

“That’s what Livingston did. I was there for three-and-a-half years and they are playing Premier League football now.

“It’s about making that structure and having a club behind you that can function after you leave.

“That’s what Livingston have maintained. I don’t think they’ve changed anything since I left – apart from the manager.”

Hopkin’s impact is being felt on the pitch as City fight to pull out of League One’s bottom four. Saturday’s 4-0 thumping of Rochdale was the third time they have scored four in the last five games.

He added: “You go into a job and I don’t think about anything else other than staying here as long as I can.

“You want to build something and put things in place and then you’ll be successful. That’s my plan for Bradford.

“There were some tough times when I took over but we’re starting to get through them now.

“We just need to make sure we keep pushing the players and everybody at the club to make sure we move forward and don’t stand still.

“The only way you become successful is by changing things for the better.”

Hope Akpan will have a late test on the tight calf that forced him to sit out at the weekend. Hopkin is hoping another vibrant home audience can roar them to a fourth successive home win.

“When I first came in, the players were nervous to play at Valley Parade,” he said.

“Now everything is buoyant. The fans are seeing a team that are working really hard and everybody’s giving it their all.

“The last few home games have had a fantastic atmosphere and I hope that continues because we’re going to need it between now and the end of the season.

“The fans add that incentive for the players to want to go and play. They also make it very difficult for opposition teams when they come.”

City are not back in action after today until January 12’s visit to Barnsley. While the squad are given extra time off to recover from a hectic period, Hopkin hopes to use the gap to push through his plans to bring in new faces in the transfer window.

He said: “This is one massive push again and it’s important we keep the run going.

“Then the players will have a few days off and it will allow me and Julian (Rhodes) time to hopefully get some deals done if we can.

“Hopefully by the time of the Barnsley game, there may be one or two in and we can strengthen in certain areas of the pitch.”