Graham Alexander update on Bantams midfielder Alex Pattison

The all-action midfielder has been out of contention since his hamstring issues flared up again two months ago.

Pattison was forced off early in the defeat at Tranmere, the final game under Mark Hughes, after being hurried back from a previous injury.

City have been very wary of pushing him too fast since to avoid the risk of a repeat.

But Pattison has now been able to re-join full training and Graham Alexander believes he is getting closer – possibly in time for the festive fixture rush.

Alex Pattison scored in three City games in a row in August (Image: Tom Pearson)

Not that the Bantams chief will be putting a deadline on his comeback.

“I’m still getting to learn about all the players and their recovery times, how quick they heal and how hard they push themselves in training,” said Alexander.

“In the short period I’ve seen Alex, he wants to be a fully intensive player and throws himself into everything.

“That’s a positive but I just don’t want to rush him too quickly. It might be one where we have to put the reins on him rather than push him out there.

“We just have to make sure we do the right things. The games are that competitive, we can’t carry anyone at 80 or 90 per cent.

“Managing yourself during training is one thing but you can’t do that during a game. If players are fit for selection, they must be fully fit to play a game.”

Pattison began the campaign with a bang following his summer arrival from Harrogate and scored in three consecutive games in August against Accrington, Colchester and Stockport.

But he went off injured at half-time in the Carabao Cup tie at Wrexham at the end of the opening month and missed the next four weeks.

The midfielder came off the bench against former club Middlesbrough and in the home defeat to Walsall.

But his first start back lasted less than half an hour at Prenton Park before suffering another problem in a similar area of the hamstring.

Pattison’s presence on the training pitch again this week has added to the upbeat mood within the squad.

Alex Pattison suffered his first hamstring injury at Wrexham (Image: Thomas Gadd)

Alexander added: “He’s been managed for the previous week in and out of sessions, doing specific parts. Monday was the first time he completed a session fully.

“It’s just taking every step forward, however small it is, and keep pushing him.

“We know there’s a good player there but we have to make sure he doesn’t have a recurrence of what happened previously.

“There are players that finely tuned and highly explosive and other guys that I call the diesels.

“I was more like that. I wasn’t very fast but just kept going and was probably at less risk of injury.

“Alex is a little bit different to what I was. He’s got that explosive power and that puts his body under different stress to other players.

“He’s in good hands and we’ll make sure that when he does come back, he’s fully ready for it.”