Positive Bradford City excited for Leeds United challenge

City are coming off the back of a vital victory at Chorley last time out - the side directly above them in a relegation scrap that is expected to go right down to the wire.

The victory meant that Bradford closed the gap between the two sides to three points and they’ll be looking to reduce that deficit further when they travel to take on their nearest and dearest rivals Leeds United this weekend.

Reflecting on his side’s recent shift in form, assistant boss Gareth Davies, said: “The confidence is definitely growing around camp; that’s not to say that it wasn’t there before but we are feeling it that bit more now. It’s about taking that belief on to the pitch and by doing that in recent weeks, we’ve had those small margins turn in our favour.

“As I’ve said before, we wanted to get a run of games together and we’ve been able to do that, however, it was key that we started picking up points along the way and slowly but surely, we are starting to see the points tally rise. Hopefully we can continue to add to that tally in the last six games.

“We never intended to target specific games to collect points; we’ve instead created a desired points tally in the remaining games, whether that came from the fixtures against Chorley or any other match for that matter. I believe that we are getting much closer to our desired tally now.

Of course, any fixture against Leeds will always be huge for the Bantams but this weekend’s tie has even more riding on it, with the visitors desperate to claw their way out of the drop zone. If results elsewhere go in their favour, a win would see City go level on points with Chorley.

Looking ahead to the fixture, Davis said: “It’s a huge game. Over the years I’ve been involved with the club, we’ve always given this Leeds side a very good game and they’ve always been tightly contested matches.

“Everyone enjoys the rivalry. As a coach it perhaps doesn’t change much for me, but it’s big for the girls. Since I’ve been involved the girls haven’t needed to be motivated ahead of this fixture; it’s one that they are always up for and excited about. I’m not saying that they raise their game just for this fixture, I’m saying that they already have a fire in their belly ahead of playing Leeds. That’s what rivalry is all about. It’s about pride and bragging rights in a fixture like this, so that’s why it makes it such a spectacle.”

Davis added: “Leeds have got strength all over the park and that’s why we are expecting another close fixture. They’re a physical side, they’re great on the ball and they play some attractive football. I believe their placing in the table (sixth) does them injustice because they do have several games in hand. I feel like we need to concentrate on our own game because we are in control of our own destiny. We need to be compact, defend well and use our pace on the attack. Of course, a win would be huge for us but we can’t be too down on ourselves if we don’t pick up the win; we’d need to regroup and go again ahead of the final run in.”