BRISTOL City have been warming up for their Valley Parade “cup final” with a drop of Claret.

The League One top dogs have not been home since drawing 1-1 at closest rivals Preston on Saturday.

Steve Cotterill kept his players in the north and called in a favour to train at his old club Burnley yesterday.

The Robins chief said: “What we didn’t want was having three or four hours in a bus, have a day at home and then have another three or four hours in a bus.”

Aaron Wilbraham’s equaliser at Deepdale, the 20th goal of the season for the one-time Bantams loan striker, made sure that victory tonight will see the Robins return to the Championship after a two-year absence.

Defender Derrick Williams said: “It’s going to be a cup final for us and we’re really going to be on it and buzzing. It will be another tough game but our fate is in our own hands now.

“We can treat it as a real one-off game and really go for it.

“We’ve worked hard all season to get in this position and we deserve it. This game is going to be massive for us and we just have to keep on doing what we have been.

“We know that if we win the next game then there is nothing any of the chasing pack can do about it.

“We’ve been working towards this all season and now it’s within reach. There’s a real excitement in the camp now because it’s so close.”

“But Bradford are pushing for the play-offs, it’s going to be a tough game and we cannot get too carried away.”

The Bantams pushed them close at Ashton Gate in October, with Chris Routis netting a late equaliser to claim a 2-2 draw.

That was during Bristol City’s club record 16-game unbeaten start to the season. They did not suffer a defeat until November 15 at Swindon – one of only three losses on the road.

The division’s best travellers have also surprisingly slipped up at Crewe and Colchester, who are both in the bottom four. But they are unbeaten in 11 games since that last away loss.