Julian Rhodes has rubbished claims that Colin Todd could be on his way out of Valley Parade.

One national report claimed yesterday that the Bantams boss was under pressure from the board because of the club's mid-table standing - and that Peter Beagrie had been lined up to replace him.

But chairman Rhodes said: "The story is absolute nonsense. I don't know where they get this kind of thing from but there isn't a grain of truth in it."

Ben Muirhead will have a hernia operation on Monday which will rule him out until March.

"He has had this problem for about three weeks and I think it's the right time to be done," said Todd.

"With certain players, something like that can affect their mentality. If Ben had been playing well then I'm sure things would have been fine but he's been struggling and it's always at the back of his mind."

Andy Cooke and Steve Schumacher are still unavailable for City's first-ever visit to the Yeovil on Saturday.

Todd added: "Cooke is not going to be ready again and Schuey's ankle injury is taking a while. He saw the specialist the other day and there is nothing untoward but it's a severe sprain."