Steve Parkin believes his dug-out partnership with Phil Parkinson will succeed because he knows exactly what the manager is up against.

Parkin’s appointment as number two last month came as a surprise considering the pair had never worked together before.

Managers usually tend to stick with the backroom staff they are familiar with but, other than the occasional football conversation, their paths had never crossed.

But Parkinson did his homework after Colin Cooper upped sticks for Middlesbrough and quickly realised that the former Mansfield, Barnsley and Rochdale boss was the best candidate as his assistant.

And the 45-year-old reckons his own past experience in the hot-seat makes him an ideal foil for the gaffer.

He has seen the workload Parkinson has to go through on a daily basis.

Parkin said: “Sometimes you are so engrossed with everything happening at the club when you’re the manager. You’ve got to deal with the press, pick the team, do the training and organisation, check the medical details – it’s a full-on job.

“I think it’s nice to have someone else who’s been in that position before who can offer a different opinion.

“It worked at Hull City when I was there because we had three managers as such; Brian Horton, myself and Phil Brown. It can only be a benefit.”

After leaving the KC Stadium following their relegation from the Premier League, Parkin had a five-month spell as first-team coach with Scunthorpe. He is clearly happy in a number two’s role.

“It’s something I’m really enjoying here,” he added. “Phil’s fairly quietly spoken and I’m not, so hopefully we’ll be a good blend.

“I like a lot of the manager’s ideas. I think he’s very structured and crystal clear about what he wants to bring to this football club. The important thing is that we both sing off the same hymn sheet.

“It’s healthy to have opinions, discussions and debate – and even the odd argument. But you both need to be pushing in the same direction.

“I’m happy with the way things have gone on the training field and in the performances and I think we are getting there.”

Parkin is delighted to see a bit of steel in City’s armoury at last. Saturday’s first league clean sheet of the season was a long time coming but he saw the positive signs the week before at Burton.

Having seen their two-goal cushion wiped out by the break, the managerial duo were pleased that City could protect their point in the second half.

Parkin said: “We’d said to them at half-time that it was important they could look each other in the eye when they came back in at the end. They did that.

“I’ve seen Bradford play many times over the past few years and there’s no question there’s ability with the football.

“The manager has brought in a couple of players who can handle the ball well and there were already some here who can do that.

“Maybe one of the criteria we’ve not been great at is what we’re like without the ball. We both agree we’ve got to be harder to play against as a team when we’re not in possession.

“We need to show some more steel within the camp and we saw that in the second half at Burton. Now we’re trying to take that forward.

“There have been frustrating times at Bradford over the last few years but we are working very hard to try to get where we want to be.

“I’d just ask the supporters to stay with it and keep believing. The players are getting a lot out of our training and hopefully that will keep showing on Saturday afternoons.”