Bradford City waiting to secure sixth signing of window

A loan deal has been agreed for the sixth signing of the summer and they are waiting for his parent club to give the green light.

But that hinges on the other club nailing their own incomings first.

It leaves the Bantams playing a waiting game before next week’s departure for Obertraun.

“We’re aware of the situation,” said boss Graham Alexander. “They’ve been trying to get in a couple of players themselves.

“As soon as they get them, they will release the player that should be coming to us.

“It’s just a timeframe that we’re obviously not in control of and we just have to wait. The player knows the scenario.

“It’s similar to us. You need the players for the games that you have.

“Once you bring players in, it allows you to move players along and that’s the situation with this guy.

“Fingers crossed that they get their business done which will help us with ours.”

Everything is in place for the City move to happen after Alexander held talks recently with the intended target.

“I’ve already sat down with the player and it’s all there for it to happen.

“It’s just that domino effect. Most transfer business is.

“We thought it would be this week but their business has been slower than they hoped.

“Ideally pre-Austria would be what we’re looking for.”

City’s coaching staff will assess the data from the closed-doors-game on Wednesday before deciding if some players will get extra playing time at Guiseley tomorrow.

They fielded two different line-ups playing 45 minutes each against Chorley. But Alexander may consider keeping a few on for longer at Nethermoor.

He said: “We need to start stepping up.

“There are some boys that are further ahead than others and can manage to do 60 now.

“It’s a balance with each individual player at this stage.

“You look at the evidence we’ve got from them and think, ‘they need pushing forward’, but it’s got to be balanced if another player needs game time as well.

“We can always top up players in training or straight after the game with extra runs and so forth.

“It might still be a case of 45 minutes each for everybody because that’s certainly enough for them to get a good gulp of competitive action and the tactical side.

New signing Antoni Sarcevic on the ball against Chorley (Image: Max Lomas)

“It’s just if we need more physical output from them, it might be easier to do that with the individuals after the game or in training on Monday and Tuesday.”

The players face another double training session today ahead of City’s first visit to Guiseley since 2021.

“I really want to challenge the players to be fatigued and under pressure and get themselves up for the game,” added Alexander.

“Remember the things we’re learning in training when you are fatigued. If you can do that, you get to the league when you’re fresh, bright and alert and it should be a lot easier.

“We’re really grateful that Guiseley stepped in at the last minute. We’ll be expecting a similar challenge to the Chorley one.

“We’re obviously another week along and we have turned up the dial a little bit physically.

“The boys will go into the game same condition but we’ll look for a little bit more in and out of possession.

“It’s the best practice for them under pressure. We get the best footage and we can learn from it game by game.

“We’re looking forward to the game. It’s obviously a better opportunity for our supporters to see the team because it’s closer and it’s another step forward in our prep.”