GARY Bowyer reckons the Bantams faithful have played a major role in his summer recruitment drive.

The City boss has added nine new faces during the off-season, including Clayton Donaldson and former Everton striker James Vaughan.

Bowyer, who is still looking to add more before the League Two opener against Cambridge on August 3, insists the size of the Valley Parade audience has been a key selling point with targets.

He said: “They’ve played a massive part in being able to bring in certain players. It’s been the big pull of playing in front of that many fans.

“You look at the response from the supporters all along and the way they’ve gone about their business prior to last season ending selling that many season-tickets.

“Some clubs in the Championship haven’t sold as many as us. It’s been a brilliant effort and I can’t thank the supporters enough for their backing.”

Vaughan is the stand-out name among the batch of new signings, ignoring interest from higher divisions to drop into League Two with City.

Despite the competition, Bowyer sensed he had got his man after just one chat.

“I got the vibe in that first conversation with James,” he added.

“I expressed my thoughts and plans and how I saw him fitting into that and he was really impressive.

“He said he just wanted to come and play and enjoy his football again. I can’t speak highly enough of him.

“It’s no secret he had quite a few clubs interested in him. The big pull for him was obviously the attraction and the size of the club and the fans.

“I can’t express the impact that’s had when helping me in recruiting players.

“The aim was to bring in as many as we could for the start of pre-season and we’ve hit the ground running in the first few days.

“We want to get everyone gelled together and then hopefully we can start the season with a bang.”