Bradford to assess status of trio for derby day
- Published
Bradford City boss Graham Alexander will assess the fitness of Andy Cook, Lewis Richards and Matthew Pennington before Saturday's West Yorkshire derby against Huddersfield Town.
Striker Cook (knee) and defenders Richards (hamstring) and Pennington (ankle) all played in a behind-closed-doors friendly on Tuesday, along with summer loan signing Tom McIntyre who is yet to make his debut.
Defender Neill Byrne is ahead of schedule with his recovery from a knee issue, but will not be available for Saturday's game at Valley Parade.
Bradford host Huddersfield for the first West Yorkshire derby in a league context since 2007. Both teams have made strong starts to the League One campaign.
"I think we have to be aware of the challenge, the quality of the team that's coming to Valley Parade, but we've been playing lots of big games, certainly at Valley Parade, and certainly in front of big crowds, big atmospheres, big pressure games and I think the players have handled themselves really well," Alexander said.
"I like to keep the game quite simple for the players, concentrate on the basics and I think it's the easiest way to focus on what's important, and what's important is the performance so we don't tend to spend a lot of time talking about anything else apart from that really."
Alexander also praised the development of Tommy Leigh as he adapts to a new role of central midfield.
The 25-year-old joined the club in January and played predominantly as a forward last season.
