Bantams boss Phil Parkinson spoke to the Telegraph & Argus ahead of his side's League One match against Carlisle at the Coral Windows Stadium tomorrow afternoon, Parkinson first talking about former United frontman Nahki Wells:
“Nahki was there for a short period of time and it didn’t work out for him. What is their loss is our gain. But it’s not like he played 100 times for Carlisle and has a great affinity with the club. It’s just another game. He’s got two in two and he needs to keep working hard and building on what he’s done so far. It’s a long season ahead. He’s got a focus about him and is ambitious to do the best he can. I want to help him fulfil his potential.
“Nahki’s a very confident boy and you need that bordering on a bit of arrogance as a striker. The hardest thing to do on a football pitch is put the ball in the back of the net. That’s why those players are worth their weight in gold. Nahki’s got the ability to do that. It’s about keeping him focused on what he needs to do each game to get those chances because when he does, we know he is clinical.
“We’re not unduly worried about the transfer window. We want to keep our best players. The chairman’s said he wants to back us and keep the players we’ve got. The challenge was whether we could keep who we wanted and add in one or two areas. So far we’ve done that.
“Carlisle are a very established League One side and it will be another good benchmark for us. People talk about the bigger clubs but Carlisle have been in there a number of years. They’ve touched the play-offs a few times and I’m sure Greg will be ambitious to get up there.
“I’m not kidded by the first performance because they had a man sent off and then conceded three late goals after that. I watched them in midweek and they are a good, young side with a bit of experience. We know it will be difficult but we have set a decent standard in the first two games and we need to maintain that.”
In team news for the Bantams tomorrow, veteran striker Andy Gray misses out after suffering a broken arm in pre-season, while giant centre-half Luke Oliver is still working his way back to fitness following an Achilles problem. Meanwhile, there are also doubts over the participation of fellow centre-back Rory McArdle who picked up an ankle injury on the opening day of the season against Bristol City.
The referee for tomorrow's match is Oliver Langford from Wednesbury in the West Midlands and he will be assisted down the lines by two Lancastrians in Simeon Lucas from Darwen and Michael Salisbury from Penwortham. Meanwhile the fourth official is Ross Joyce from Middlesbrough.