Michael Flynn and Tommy Doherty could both miss City’s Essex tour next week because of minor injuries.

The key midfielders are definitely out of the friendly at North Ferriby tomorrow.

And Peter Taylor will not take a chance if he feels they cannot play any part in the four southern-based matches coming up.

New signing Doherty has not been able to train properly since hurting his calf in only his second session. Flynn, who played 45 minutes at Eccleshill, is suffering from a groin strain.

Taylor said: “It wouldn’t surprise me if both of those don’t play down in Essex, which is a bit of a blow.

“I’ll take them if they’ve got a chance of playing later but if not, I’m not so sure. There are only so many rooms available and ideally I need to take 22 players that are fit and well.

“I’ve got a few others who want to come on trial so I think I’ll be looking at that.”

Strikers Matt Tipton and Lee Morris have been with the Bantams throughout pre-season and Taylor may make a decision on them after the weekend game.

He added: “There’s no rush. If it meant they had somewhere else to go, then I’m sure they’d be knocking on my door.

“We are getting a bit skinny on the ground after picking up a few little injuries. We’ve got to be careful with people so some might have to play 90 minutes at Ferriby as Luke O’Brien did against Eccleshill.

“But the fitness levels are good and I’ve got no worries about that.”

City face only one league side in the build-up to the August 7 big kick-off. Taylor admitted the summer repair work on the Valley Parade pitch had limited their options.

He said: “We could have played some really good teams here but we couldn’t fit them in at the time we wanted to play because we want to give the pitch as long as possible.

“The only (available) time we had was the last Saturday before we started and a lot of clubs were fixed up by then.

“We could have done with a bit more but I’m absolutely delighted with the Rochdale away fixture because I think that’s perfect for us going into the Shrews-bury Town one.

“The pitch is looking good. The proof will be when we get some bad weather and there are games being played but overall it looks much better.”