ALEX Bass is well used to the pressure and expectation he will face as City’s new goalkeeper.

The 23-year-old is in line to make his debut at Walsall tomorrow night following his loan move from Portsmouth.

It is a big opportunity for Bass to get playing regularly again after playing second fiddle at the League One club behind Republic of Ireland international Gavin Bazunu.

And the Bantams new boy is confident he can handle being thrown in the deep end because he’s done it before.

“When I broke into the team at Portsmouth, it was a bit of a surprise,” he said.

“Everyone loved the goalkeeper that was playing at the time (Craig MacGillivray) but the manager decided he wanted to change it, so I was under pressure from game one to perform.

“I’ve had that experience in the past and hopefully that can set me up for the future.

“It can be more difficult coming in during January.

“But everyone seems like a very friendly bunch and with the amount of games coming up and all the training, everyone will build relationships very quickly.

“The best way to get to know people is to be thrown into a team environment with them and playing in games. You learn about each other when you’re under pressure the most.

“If I do play, there’s that opportunity to build up relationships very quickly. The quicker you can do that, the better for us going forward.”

Bass has come to Valley Parade match ready after playing twice this month for Portsmouth in the Papa John’s Trophy.

His most recent outing a fortnight ago saw him named man of the match in a 2-1 defeat at Cambridge.

But the form of Manchester City loanee Bazunu at Fratton Park has meant his opportunities this season have been limited.

Bass added: “Gav’s a great, young keeper. You’ve only got to look at what he does on the international stage.

“He’s very dedicated to the game of football that he is.

“It’s great to watch him and how he works. I’ve worked with a lot of great keepers over the years.

“You take what you can learning from every single one of those, what they do and how they conduct themselves and try to take that into your game.

“The gaffer at Portsmouth told me to go out and play and see how I get on as soon as I heard Bradford were interested and there was an opportunity for me to come here.

“It’s a great club with great ambition and I’m looking forward to hopefully being a part of that.”

The arrival of Bass means that former Saddler Richard O’Donnell is likely to drop out of the squad against his old club.

But Derek Adams insists he is not looking to push any of his goalkeepers out the door.

“I would prefer that I kept all three until the end of the season,” said the City boss. “I think that competition for places is good.

“If one of them came and knocked on my door and asked if there was a possibility of getting some game time elsewhere and financially it was good for us, we’d look at it.

“But I don’t really want any of them to leave.”

Adams confirmed that Dion Pereira will be in his first squad since his loan signing from Luton. The winger was left out against Rochdale.

Andy Cook will definitely start after coming off the bench in the last two games.

Lee Angol is due for a scan later this week to assess the severity of his hamstring problem, which Adams feared on Saturday could end his season.

Elliot Watt is also missing at the Banks’s Stadium but the Bantams chief is hopeful that he will be fit to return against Crawley at the weekend.