IT MIGHT not quite match the same level of intensity as Marcelo Bielsa but Mark Trueman’s homework had a handy head-start this week.

Trueman and Conor Sellars have earned plaudits with the City players for the thoroughness of their preparation notes before each game.

And they certainly won’t be short of notes on this weekend’s visitors Crawley as the Bantams finally try to kick off 2021 at the third attempt.

It is a quick turnaround against the Sussex side, who head north on a high after toppling Leeds in the FA Cup third round.

It was only a month ago that City stopped a six-game losing rot with a battling point at the Broadfield Stadium.

That marked an encouraging dug-out debut for Trueman and Sellars and began an unbeaten run that has only been put on hold by back-to-back postponements.

Bielsa’s legendary pre-match scrutiny of opponents may have surprisingly come a cropper on Sunday but City’s build-up has certainly been helped by their previous encounter last month.

“We did a lot of homework on Crawley as soon as we got the nod to take the team,” said Trueman.

“We knew that was one of our toughest games however long we were in charge. They’ve got some good individuals and they are up near the top of League Two for a reason.

“It helps us with the on and off-field work that it wasn’t long since we last played them.

“We’ll still do our homework. We won’t just watch them once – we’ll be looking at past fixtures as well.

“Preparation is one thing that we will never ease up on. I don’t think you can do too much of that.

“Obviously Bielsa is right up there but we can only do what we can with our staffing and at the minute it’s working.”

City’s interim managers were keen viewers as Crawley dismantled Leeds 3-0 in one of the biggest shocks in this season’s FA Cup.

It underlined the challenge that they are expecting from John Yems’ in-form side.

Trueman added: “The players that performed well against Leeds were the ones we highlighted in our preparation last month. We know Crawley are a good team.

“They performed well and deserved the win. They were on the stage to show the quality of League Two and I thought they were the better team.

“That will obviously give them confidence coming up here but we’ll be fresh, so hopefully that will play in our favour.

“It’s up to us now to go and perform and get a result.

“That’s our job and we’ll take confidence from when we played them down at their ground.”

City were unable to train yesterday because of the heavy snow in the morning. The covers have been on the Valley Parade pitch to try to avoid a potential third blank weekend.

Midfielder Callum Cooke said: “It was obviously frustrating not to get the game on last Saturday.

“We’ve gone from playing Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday to not being able to kick a ball for a few weeks. It’s bizarre but we can’t help the weather.

“We’re just keeping our fingers crossed it goes ahead on schedule.

“We’ve had a good week’s training and had a behind-closed-doors game on Tuesday that went well. It was good to get some minutes in the legs.”

Cooke echoes Trueman's thoughts that the delay will not halt City's momentum after their unbeaten December form.

He added: "Confidence breeds confidence and I feel we can beat any team in the division at the minute."