Bantams boss able to take plenty of positives out of friendly fixture
City boss Phil Parkinson was happy to see his squad enjoy another productive pre-season friendly as they made it two wins out of two with victory over Wexford Youths this Tuesday evening.
Coming only three days after their 7-1 victory over Tadcaster Albion, Parkinson's men kicked off their Irish tour with a comfortable win against League of Ireland First Division side Wexford.
For the second game running, strikers James Hanson, Ross Hannah and Nahki Wells were all among the goals at Ferrycarrig Park to help City make it eleven goals in total from their first two pre-season friendlies.
Parkinson was understandably pleased to see his forwards find the net once again, but the City chief was also quick acknowledge that there were plenty of other positives to come from the match.
"I was very pleased with tonight - it was a good result," said Parkinson.
"We came here tonight with a bit of a stratch starting eleven that included some trialists and youngsters, and when you do that you always run the risk of maybe not winning the game.
"But I thought the way the lads approached the game tonight was very good and there was some good play out there. There were also some good standout performances out there, most notably our two young players, Forrayah Bass and Adam Baker.
"The lads who started got a good sixty minutes under their belts tonight, while the other lads who came on from the bench will still benefit from the half an hour or so they received.
"We'll now look to flip that around for Saturday, so the guys who started the game tonight on the bench will play from the off and get most of the match at Bray.
"As much as we are working on the shape of the team and what we need to do to be successful, it is still very much a fitness exercise at the moment as well.
"The players came into tonight's game after a really hard day of training yesterday and a further session in the morning.
"With all that in mind, I have to be pleased with the way we approached the game."
As they were at Tadcaster at the weekend, Hanson and Hannah were partnered together in attack during their own personal involvement in Tuesday's Wexford game.
And after contributing three goals between them to City's eventual total of seven against Tadcaster, the Hanson-Hannah partnership managed to rustle up another three at Ferrycarrig Park.
The Bantams boss added: "I felt Ross and James were very, very good in the first half. Ross has worked hard over the summer and come back fitter and stronger.
"You can see that in his general play. He got his rewards with the penalty because it was him who won the penalty in the first place.
"James' two goals were very, very good as well.
"His header for the first goal was excellent, similar to his goal at Tadcaster, and his second goal was a cracking effort right in the top corner."
Another City striker on show at Wexford was recent recruit Alan Connell, who was given his first run-out in a Bradford shirt for the final half an hour of the game.
"I thought Alan did well tonight. He had a couple attempts on goal and linked up the play well," Parkinson said.
"He has already had a bit of fitness training under his belt this summer but he hasn't had much football training yet.
"He's had a day or so on the training pitch with us now but tonight was his first taste of eleven versus eleven at the club.
"I'm really pleased with what I've seen of him so far and he's fitting in well already with the squad."
Despite the fixture taking place hundreds of miles away from West Yorkshire, it didn't stop a healthy number of City fans turning up to show their support to Parkinson's squad.
Parkinson added:"It is always good to see when our fans make such an effort to come out and support the lads.
"I'm glad we managed to reward them with a good performance and some goals to view.
"Hopefully they will have left the ground tonight happy and ready to enjoy a good night in Wexford."