Graham Alexander: Bantams face stiff test at Forest Green

The Bantams are keen to keep the ball rolling after back-to-back wins under the new boss.

Meanwhile, hosts Rovers are second from bottom and already facing a fight to avoid consecutive relegations.

But the fourth tier constantly throws up unexpected results and Alexander’s men are braced for another tight contest in Gloucestershire.

Alexander said: “The gap at this level from top to bottom is not as big as in the Premier League or Championship.

“The money isn’t as different. I would say there isn’t a vast amount of difference across the budgets.

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“With the amount of automatic and play-off positions in League Two, you’re talking about a top seven.

“There are more opportunities for people to be successful in this division so it gives more hope.

“You can probably put your hat on two or three and say they’ll definitely be in the shake-up. But then there’s 15-17 teams after that who could be in the play-offs for all possible reasons.

“England is a competitive country in all the divisions but I would suggest League Two is harder to say who’s going to be at the top end at the start than any other one.”

Stevenage and Carlisle defied the bookies to win promotion last season. Champions Leyton Orient also turned the tables after struggling in their previous campaign.

“When the respective managers took over at the end of the season before, they were all struggling at the bottom of the table,” added the City boss.

“They almost saved the clubs from relegation one season and then took them up the next. That’s how quickly you can turn it around.

“On the flipside of that, it can go the other way as well.

“Football is a game when you have to constantly prove yourself and focus on the future rather than what’s already gone on.”

Alexander has kept the same squad from Saturday’s win over Accrington, although he will wait to name the side.

“We’ll assess them again this morning because I always think you need a couple of days to get the best picture.

“Everyone who was in the squad on Saturday trained yesterday and we’ll just see how they are.

“As we’ve seen, it’s not just 11 good players and people filling in. There are some choices I can make if I feel the need to.

“I’ve only got limited experience on the players and their body language.

“But it was a really bright training ground yesterday and the session was very intense and sharp, which was good to see.

Andy Cook scores into an empty net at Forest Green last time (Image: Thomas Gadd)

“Players have seen a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel. But we’re not out of that tunnel yet.

“We’ve got to keep working hard, keep that bit between our teeth and try and replicate performances over and over again to get a consistent run of results.”

City won on their last visit to The New Lawn in March 2022 but Forest Green went on to clinch the League Two title.

But they then lost most of that team elsewhere and came crashing straight back down – a decline that has continued into this season.

“That’s what can happen at the lower levels,” said Alexander. “Players have outstanding seasons and then get cherry-picked.

“You know where you are in the food chain and there are always bigger clubs plucking the best ones away.

“It’s difficult for a lot of clubs at this level to keep hold of successful teams for more than one or two seasons.

“It’s about how you recover and regenerate your squad. But it’s even more difficult when you go up a level, which they obviously did.

“I think their form has picked up. They’ve got some good players and play in a certain way and stick to their principles.

“We have to make sure we are fully focused right through the game, as we were on Saturday.

“We had to do that to win that game by the tightest of margins because we were up against a good team.

“This will be exactly the same. This will be another competitive game.

“We’ll have to be ready for the lot and make sure we give a good account of ourselves.”