Bradford City are many people's favourites for League Two promotion next season following the arrival of new manager Stuart McCall. The former Scottish international cut his teeth in the coaching game as assistant to Neil Warnock at Sheffield United and Bantams fans will be hoping he can work the oracle and take the club back into League One at the first time of asking. One young player looking to impress McCall at Valley Parade next term is winger Joe Colbeck. Understandably, the 20-year-old suffered a dip in confidence during City's relegation troubles last season but, as givemefootball's Mark Shail discovered, the swagger has returned during pre-season training and he can’t wait for this weekend's curtain-raiser against Macclesfield.
Q:ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO THE SEASON TO START?
A:The buzz around the whole club now is fantastic. The Macclesfield game can’t come quick enough for us. You can see how excited the supporters are when there are 400 or 500 fans travelling to our friendly away games. Having that support behind us gives everyone a lift and it’s going to get even better next season.
Q:HOW DIFFICULT WILL IT BE COPING WITH THE FANS’ EXPECTATIONS?
A:There is a lot of expectation this year but that’s a brilliant feeling. We know with the fans behind us we should do well. That support really helps the team and builds the confidence up knowing that Bradford City are a big club and we want to get back up the leagues again.
Q:HOW DO YOU FEEL AFTER PRE-SEASON TRANING?
A:I feel really fit at the moment and my confidence is booming. I just want to get the shirt for the beginning of the season and keep it. Pre-season matches are about building up your fitness. You try to cram in as much as you can, getting up and down the pitch as much as possible and putting in 90 minutes work, even if you’re only playing for one half or an hour.
Q:YOU MUST BE RELISHING THE PROSPECT OF PLAYING ALONGSIDE TWO BIG STRIKERS LIKE PETER THORNE AND BARRY CONLON?
A:It’s great because you know that when you’re under pressure you can just hit the ball into the strikers and they are going to hold it up. If you’ve got two little guys up there who like to play in behind it can be more difficult. But now I’ve got those targets to aim at and know that there’s a big lad hopefully going to get on the end of a cross.
Q:IS AUTOMATIC PROMOTION THE SOLE TARGET?
A:Getting promotion is the only thing that matters –that’s in everyone’s mind. When the gaffer came in the first thing he told us was that Bradford are a big club who do not belong in this division. We want to get back up again and don’t mind the pressure from trying to achieve that.
Q:DO YOU THINK SOME OF THE SMALLER TEAMS IN LEAGUE TWO WILL BE LOOKING FORWARD TO GOING TO PLACES LIKE BRADFORD?
A:Obviously we’re going to expect teams to come to a big club like Bradford City with 12,000 people there and try to bully us. But we’re not going to let them do that. Whatever the other teams want to do, we’re going to go out there and try to play as much football as we can. Our aim is to get out of this division as quickly as we can. Some of the lads have played in this division before but it’s new for a lot of us. But I don’t think it will be a big drop from League One and we’ll be ready for it
