Simon Ramsden is poised to make a new start in the new year.

Peter Taylor reckons City’s skipper is in line to return to training once the holiday period is over.

And he predicts that will give the Bantams a huge boost for the games that have had to be rearranged because of the wintry weather.

Saturday’s trip to Crewe was called off after an early-morning pitch inspection from referee Kevin Wright. The surface was frozen solid after sub-zero temperatures the previous two nights.

But the prospect of returning to Gresty Road at a later point with at least one of their big-hitters back on board overrode Taylor’s frustration at another blank weekend.

With Ramsden and fellow long-term absentees Lewis Hunt and Michael Flynn on the way back, Taylor expects much stronger resources to pick from in the second half of the campaign.

He said: “I try to look at most things in a positive way. Other clubs out there may not have the strength of the squad we’ve got.

“If you’ve got to a stage where you are playing two games every week and get a couple of injuries, then I think we will be in a better position to cope with that.

“All of a sudden Ramsden is coming back into contention and I think he will be training with us the first week in January. You’ve got the others as well, so it’s going to make a difference to us.”

Ramsden has not kicked a ball since the opening week of the season while Flynn made one abortive appearance at Hartlepool in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy.

Hunt is closer after recovering from knee surgery which has kept him out since the Northampton game at the end of September.

Cambridge official Wright ruled out the weekend game early enough to stop City from travelling. But Taylor had been warned the previous night that the game could be struggling.

He added: “The ref has got it right. The pitch would have been rock hard and I don’t think it would have been enjoyable for anybody.

“I’m sure the players were looking forward to the game, especially after winning last week, but you can end up battering yourself about little things that you have no control over. Crewe were in the same boat and there were lots of other games called off as well.

“As much as I’m frustrated because the lads had prepared quite well all week, if the pitch was going to be awkward then it’s better being off.

“Hopefully it could be a positive for us because now we might be stronger when we do have to go down there next time.”

City have already rescheduled their game at Aldershot – frozen off a fortnight ago – for January 18.