Graham Alexander impressed by Bantams training standards

The Bantams boss has been impressed with how the squad have taken to him and assistant Chris Lucketti and their methods are Woodhouse Grove.

Players have claimed standards have lifted in practice compared to when Mark Hughes was in charge.

But Alexander stressed they are just training to the level he has always demanded.

“I wasn’t here so I’m not looking at any stats we produced before,” he said. “We’re just training how we train.

“Players can either do it or they can’t. I’m not here to make judgement with anything that went on prior to my time here.

'We're the ones that have to set standards'

“We know how we want to train. We train how we want to play.

“I believe players want to work hard underneath. Sometimes they might be allowed not to.

“But I think you’re doing them a disservice if you do that.”

Alex Pattison, who has just returned after a two-month lay-off, was the latest to comment about the higher intensity on the training pitch.

But Alexander feels that it down to the players themselves just as much as those running the sessions.

“We’re the coaches, the ones that have to set the standards and use our experience and knowledge about the levels you can get to and how you have to push yourself day in, day out.

“We have to show them the way but I want players to come off a training pitch knowing they’ve earned their wage and they are prepared for anything that comes their way in a game of football.

“Games are incredibly hard physically and mentally. If you’re not physically fit, your mental side deteriorates without a shadow of doubt.

'I'm not riding their back and cracking the whip'

“Your touch goes, your decision-making goes. There should be no excuse for a professional footballer not to be fit.

“The least we can be is fit, organised and motivated. Then if you’ve got the better players and better quality, hopefully that wins games.

“We put down challenges for players. I wouldn’t say we go overboard – they haven’t done a pre-season yet with us.

“But we want to test players. You have to play for 95-100 minutes sometimes.

“If you’re not fit enough to be going full at it all that way through a game then you’re putting a result at risk. We don’t want to do that.

“We’ve been delighted with how the players have approached the training and the games. They’ve taken their training performances into games.

“We ask them to do things, we devise training sessions to get that out of them. But it’s the players that produce it.

“I’m not riding their back and cracking the whip. We’re encouraging them to work hard.

“We’re trying to influence their work ethic. But it’s the players that go out there and run hard, tackle hard and play forward.”

The Salford postponement because of Valley Parade’s waterlogged pitch put City’s bid for a fifth straight victory in all competitions on hold. They now have a full week to prepare for Saturday’s long trip to Gillingham.

'New-manager bounce' is a fallacy

But weekend results meant they did not lose any ground on the top seven – with the gap remaining five points after their recent back-to-back league wins.

“It’s been a good response from the team,” added Alexander. “But I think the ‘new manager bounce’ thing is a bit of a fallacy.

“If you think you’re going to get that as a manager and then it dies down after six-to-eight weeks, it doesn’t shine a good light on players either.

“You have to do things for yourself at times and have that motivation day in, day out, regardless of who’s leading you.

“That’s what I feel. I didn’t see a team that wasn’t working hard before I got here.

“I didn’t see a group of lazy players and then, all of a sudden, we’ve sparked them into life. I didn’t see that.

“I think they were working hard anyway. But if they feel they are working harder, then great, because I feel that’ll make them mentally and physically stronger anyway.”