City have been warned to brace themselves for a “blood and thunder” battle with rock-bottom Notts County at Valley Parade tonight.

Phil Parkinson will hold a late head count before naming his side after Nahki Wells, Kyel Reid and Alan Connell fell ill with a minor bug.

After Saturday’s victory at MK Dons got rid of the “tetchiness” surrounding a seven-match winless run, City’s preparations have been hit by a bout of sickness in the ranks.

A member of the backroom staff went down with it at the weekend and it has spread despite their best efforts to isolate the problem.

Whoever gets the nod will be under no illusions about the scrap they can expect from a Notts side who have lost eight out of nine – and all four since former Leeds midfielder Shaun Derry took charge with Greg Abbott.

Parkinson said: “We’ve got to make sure we are ready for one almighty battle. It’s got to be a full-on performance to get the result.

“Notts County are bottom of the league and absolutely fighting for their lives. But we come into the game in good spirits.

“Football is all about winning. The lads worked incredibly hard against a tough team on Saturday and we got our rewards.

“I know we talk about the performance level which has been good but there was an edginess around the building. We wanted to get that win that we haven’t had for a while.

“You could sense a little bit of tetchiness around from everybody. We ultimately all want to win.”

County are currently seven points adrift of safety but successive close calls against Wolves and at Shrews-bury suggest they are improving.

Parkinson added: “You look in the summer at the squad Notts County built and people would think they’d be up there round the play-offs.

“We’ve seen them play the last two weeks. They played really well against Wolves and were very unlucky not to win the game, let alone draw it.

“On Saturday it was very similar at Shrewsbury and one moment has cost them.

“We have to make sure that if Notts County do get anything, they’ll have had to play better than they have done all season.”

Bantams skipper Gary Jones said: “I’ve played against Shaun Derry before and been kicked by him! But he’s passionate about his football.

“I’m sure he’ll set them up for a blood and thunder type game. It won’t be like MK Dons. Notts County will be fighting for every ball, tackle and header, and anyone who thinks it will be easy are in for a shock.”

* City must now wait for a written decision from the Court of Arbitration for Sport after yesterday’s three-hour hearing into the Mark Stewart compensation saga.