Ashley Ward will be wrapped in cotton-wool to make sure he is fit for Bradford City's First Division curtain-raiser against Barnsley on Saturday.

The big centre-forward will sit out tomorrow night's final pre-season friendly at Huddersfield to rest the injured calf which forced him to miss the 2-0 Valley Parade defeat against Premiership Blackburn.

City have no cover for the aerial power of Ward up front and boss Jim Jefferies admitted: "It's vital we get him ready for the Barnsley game.

"Without him up there, we lack the inches in the air and a wee bit of a goal threat. We don't expect it to be a bad injury but we're not taking any chances.

"If everybody's fit then we have a strong squad but our problems come if we get one or two injuries.

"We've got five games in August and then another nine in September so we'll just keep our fingers crossed we can steer clear of getting people injured."

David Wetherall and Eoin Jess both lasted the distance in Saturday's game as they continued their comebacks. Weth-erall will play another full match at the McAlpine with Jess pencilled in for at least 45 minutes.

Jefferies said: "We'll take a strong team to Huddersfield and it will get another game under the belts. But obviously we've got an eye on playing Barnsley, that's the game we are preparing for now."