JACK Payne has the knack of scoring against the Bantams.

The MK Dons midfielder spent the 2018/2019 season on loan at Valley Parade when he netted nine times in 47 appearances for the team that finished bottom of League One.

But he has come back to bite his former club since with goals in each of his last three outings against them.

And he warmed up for tonight’s return to BD8 with a belting free-kick as the Dons came from behind to clinch a late win over Accrington at the weekend.

That moved Mike Williamson’s side within three points of the automatic spots in their bid to bounce straight back to the third tier.

More importantly for Payne, they have also created a bit of breathing space in the play-off places.

"As much as we're looking ahead, we have to create a gap behind as well,” he told the MK Citizen.

“There are so many good teams, and between now and the end of the season, there will be plenty of changes above and below.

“We've just got to focus on ourselves and pick up as many points as we can.

"We want to be higher, we want to climb the table. We know we've got a lot of games in the next two weeks and we want to get as many points as we can.

"We know it's a massive game at Bradford. They got a good result at Wrexham, so it will be a tough place to go and hopefully we come out on top."

City’s 4-1 loss at stadium:MK in October – a night when they could have conceded 10 – was Williamson’s first home game at the helm.

Williamson, once a Wolves team-mate of Kevin McDonald, has won 12 of his 20 games since succeeding Graham Alexander.

He went without a recognised striker on Saturday, using Dan Kemp as a false number nine, but MK were more effective after they turned to target man Ellis Harrison on the hour.

Harrison will be pushing for a start at Valley Parade. Defender Warren O'Hora could also be in contention after missing Saturday's game through personal reasons.