JAMES Hanson is thrilled to see Stuart McCall back at the City helm – even if it’s going to make his own job harder this weekend.

Hanson and Billy Clarke will be lining up for opponents Grimsby in McCall’s Valley Parade homecoming.

Luke Hendrie, whose signing was controversially blocked by Edin Rahic shortly before he fired McCall, is also in the visiting side for what promises to be a special occasion.

It adds a further twist in a game when the Bantams are now anticipating their largest crowd of the season.

Hanson said: “I’m delighted for him to be back. Last time he only spent a month outside the play-offs – he had Bradford constantly up there.

“That was with all the things that Edin was doing behind his back, so I obviously felt sorry for Stuart at the time when he lost his job.

“It’s great he’s back at the club and, bar Saturday, I hope he can help get the results that get them promoted.

“Stuart’s a legend at the club and the fans are going to be bouncing. Our job is obviously going to be trying to keep them as quiet as we can.

“But it’s going to be tough because we know he’s going to have an impact from the players. They will raise their game and try and make a good impression on him.”

McCall and assistant Kenny Black, who both agreed deals until the end of next season late on Monday night, took their first training session back at Apperley Bridge yesterday.

But Martin Drury, who was number two under Gary Bowyer, was not involved. His contract still has another year to run but his position at the club is unclear.

A number of fans watched training as the McCall factor immediately had an impact.

After Bowyer was sacked following the current seven-game winless run, Hanson anticipates a very different mood at Valley Parade this weekend.

He added: “With Stuart coming back, that lifts everyone in Bradford. There’s probably going to be an extra couple of thousand fans on the gate getting behind the players.

“A few of our lads have played at Valley Parade before and it’s going to be the biggest crowd they’ve seen this season. We’re telling them that it could be near to 20,000 with a lot of our fans coming as well.

“We were hoping that Bowyer could have stayed for another week and then the place could have been a bit more daunting for Bradford to play in.

“Maybe if Bowyer had still be in charge, the atmosphere would have been totally different from kick-off. Now it’s going to be bouncing and we’ve got to be ready for that."

Hanson signed pro for McCall from Guiseley in 2009 and went on to score 91 City goals, the third highest in the club's history.

“It’s going to be weird on Saturday," he admitted, "but we’ve got to focus on what we’re trying to do under our new manager.

“The last couple of weeks we’ve been improving and Ian Holloway has got us playing better football."