GRAHAM Alexander wants to make it more of a chore for City at Chorley by ramping up the fitness sessions around it.

The Bantams play their opening friendly this weekend against the National League North side.

But the players can expect plenty of extra work on the training ground leading right up to Saturday’s first game.

“We’ve got to get the balance right between games when we will be stretched and they will be difficult and ones where we’d like to be able to control them,” said Alexander.

“Early doors, certainly we don’t really let up on the training either side of the games in the first part of pre-season.

“Just because we’ve got a friendly the next day, we won’t ease off on the sessions.

“We see those first few games as part of the training process. It’s just another stimulus for the players so we’re not just playing in-house 11 v 11 games.

“Even if it’s against an opponent we should be able to compete against comfortably, we’ll fatigue the players and stress them before that game so it’s a harder fixture for them to fulfil.”

City were due to face Scunthorpe, another sixth-tier opponent, after Chorley before heading to their Austrian training camp where they will take on local side SV Ried II.

But the Iron pulled the plug on their July 13 date claiming their pitch would not be ready - leaving the Bantams rushing around to try to find alternative opponents at short notice.

There are also two closed-doors training ground games pencilled in before the only home fixture of pre-season against Sunderland.

A visit to National League play-off semi-finalists Altrincham is the final friendly leading up to the League Two kick-off at MK Dons.

Alexander, who is hoping to confirm his fifth summer recruit later this week, added: “Preseason is getting more complicated as the years go by.

"The season almost starts as soon as you put a kit on.

“I’m very much still in the camp that pre-season is a preparation for the real thing.

“The will to win always has to be present. We have that in training, never mind matchdays, and we want to have that in the friendlies.

“But ultimately, it’s about preparing for a 50-game season against League Two opposition.

“It’s good to get the kit back on and have that feel of the game against a different opponent. The big kick-off, the first game of the season, is the most important one.

“Sometimes in the past we haven’t had the pre-season fixture list we would have liked. It’s been too strong or too weak. 

“We know how to push the players. There are loads of challenges that we try to create over preseason.

“Obviously the club have found the money to allow us to go on a tour to Austria, which is really important for team-building abilities. It’s a great training camp when we go there.”