Phil Parkinson will return to one of the clubs that brought him so much joy during his illustrious career when the Red Dragons take on Bradford City later today.
After winning promotion, reaching the League Cup final, and causing upsets in the FA Cup, he hopes to return from the very same club with all three points.
This time he visits the University of Bradford Stadium in the away dugout, and he believes that the Red Dragons can build on the victory against Salford City this afternoon.
He said: “I’m looking forward to the game because I had some great times there. I’ve only been back to Bradford once as a manager which was when I was with Bolton.
“The University of Bradford Stadium is a terrific arena to play football in and we are looking forward to it.
“The most important thing is about the performance level and giving it our all physically.
“It will be a test, but we want to implement our game plan with real quality which we’ve worked on this week.
The two sides met back in August in the Carabao Cup, when a penalty shootout was all that could separate the two teams after a goalless 90 minutes.
Since then, it has been all change in West Yorkshire, with Mark Hughes being relieved of his duties and midfielder Kevin McDonald stepping in as Caretaker player/manager.
In only three matches the Bantams have seen an uptick in form, with three victories from three games in all competitions.
With a personnel change in the dugout, Parkinson explained that he anticipates a slight change in the starting eleven compared to the team they faced earlier this season.
He said: “They are more direct into the forward players like Andy Cook and he is an important player for them.
“From what I’ve seen they seem to press higher, and they have changed their shape slightly.
“We are a team that has played against all different systems, and we’ll be ready for whatever Bradford throws at us this weekend.”
The victory against Salford City was yet another example of the squad’s togetherness and resilience when it comes to securing victory.
Over recent weeks we have seen the impact the full squad can make on a game, with substitutions proving to be vital.
That character and depth in the squad has been crucially important so far this season, and Parkinson added that he is selecting a squad that can make a real impact come 3pm.
He said: “We were pleased to win, and it was a very exciting and dramatic way to seal the three points.
“Now it is up to us to pick the team that is right to start this game and also have a bench which can impact as well.
“As we’ve seen substitutes are so important and we have those players who we can bring on to change the dynamic of the game.
“Hopefully it will be like Crawley, and we bring subs on to see the game through, but we will have the firepower on the bench if it’s needed.”
