CITY boss Phil Parkinson has assured fans he is determined to build a squad capable of making a serious push for promotion but has urged them to remain patient.

A handful of players have departed Valley Parade since the end of last term and the future of key men Andrew Davies and Jon Stead remains uncertain.

But Parkinson insists plenty of work is going on behind the scenes to tie down his lynchpins and bring in the quality required to better last season’s impressive seventh-placed finish.

The Bantams chief said: “My main focus is on building the squad.

“I want to make sure that when we come to the first game we are strong.

“That’s what we are working on all the time and, hopefully by the time the season starts, we will have a squad that is strong enough to compete.

“I don’t want to make any predictions yet because I don’t know what sort of a squad we’re going to end up with.

“Of course we are capable of competing but a lot will depend on the next three or four weeks in terms of the players we get in and how strong we are in terms of the quality and depth of the squad.

“We’re working hard to achieve it and we’ve got a picture in our mind of where we would like to be squad-wise and the players we’d like to get in.

“At the moment, all our energies are focused on getting a team out on the pitch who can produce a really good season.”

Aaron Mclean, Andy Halliday, Matty Dolan, Mark Yeates and Jason Kennedy have all left the club while defender Davies and striker Stead are yet to agree deals to stay next season.

Parkinson added: “We’ve got contract offers on the table for several players but, like I always say, when you are going for that extra bit of quality, you are always competing with other clubs.

“It can take time. Anyone can sign players at this stage of the summer but finding the good ones tends to take a bit longer.

“We are working hard to get the best players we can with the budget available to us.”