Stuart McCall's Bantams return to action in Sky Bet League One this Saturday (20 January 2018) with a trip to Bristol Rovers.
McCall's men will head to Rovers' Memorial Stadium looking to maintain their fine away form this season, and also with the intention of bouncing back from last weekend's defeat at the hands of Northampton Town.
City have claimed nine wins from thirteen league away matches so far this campaign, only league leaders Wigan Athletic have secured as many victories on the road.
This Saturday's hosts have a commendable home record this season, however, with the Pirates winning eight of their thirteen home fixtures so far.
Last season's encounter at the Memorial Stadium saw Rovers and City play out a 1-1 draw, although McCall's side perhaps could have taken all three points after going close on a number of occasions in the second period.
Team News
Bristol Rovers
New Pirates striker Bernard Mensah could be in line to make his debut at the weekend.
Mensah, who signed for Rovers from Aldershot earlier this month, was an unused sub in last Saturday's 0-0 draw at Blackpool.
James Clarke is slowly working his way back to full fitness after being sidelined since the start of the season through injury.
Fellow defender Daniel Leadbitter remains absent after picking up an injury on Boxing Day.
Bradford City
Bantams striker Charlie Wyke will be assessed ahead of this Saturday's trip to Bristol Rovers to see if he has any chance of featuring in the match-day squad.
Wyke missed last Saturday's match with Northampton with a back strain
City will be understandably keen to have the influential forward available as soon as possible, but McCall is wary of rushing him back too soon with games against Rotherham United and AFC Wimbledon coming up next week.
Tony McMahon (thigh) and Adam Thompson (groin) are out, although Adam Chicksen has a chance of travelling after making his return from injury in the reserves in midweek.
Colin Doyle (knee), Omari Patrick (knee) and Alex Jones (ankle) continue on the road back to full fitness following injury.
Tickets
Terracing section tickets are still available from the ticket office for City supporters at Bristol Rovers this Saturday.
Admission prices will be:
There will be a pay on the day option at the Memorial Stadium, although the prices increase by £2.00 from those listed above.
Any fans collecting tickets on the day at Bristol will collect them from the away end, not the ticket office.
Previously at the Memorial Stadium
Saturday 11 February 2017
Sky Bet League One
Bristol Rovers 1 (Lines 15)
Bradford City 1 (Law 26)
BRISTOL ROVERS LINE UP:
Lumley, Leadbitter, Sweeney, Lockyer, Brown, Montano (Broom 71), Sinclair O Clarke, Lines, James (Lucas 89), Harrison (Gaffney 72)
Subs not used: Harris, Puddy, Partington, Burn
BRADFORD CITY LINE UP:
Doyle, McMahon, McArdle, Knight-Percival, Meredith, Marshall, Dieng, Vincelot, Law, Clarke (Hiwula 81), Wyke
Subs not used: Sattelmaier, Darby, Toner, Penney, Gilliead, Devine
Earlier this season
Saturday 2 September 2017
Sky Bet League One
Bradford City 3 (Wyke 13, 62, 73)
Bristol Rovers 1 (Bodin 81)
BRADFORD CITY LINE UP:
Doyle, McMahon, Knight-Percival, Kilgallon, Chicksen, Gilliead, Reeves, Vincelot, Law, Poleon (Patrick 72), Wyke (Jones 77)
Subs not used: Raeder, Taylor, Field, Hendrie, Devine
BRISTOL ROVERS LINE UP:
Slocombe, Leabitter, Burn, Broadbent, Brown, Lines, Sercombe, O Clarke, Bodin, Harrison (Gaffney 72), Moore (Nichols 58)
Subs not used: Telford, Bola, Partington, Menayese, Andre
Last time out
Saturday 13 January 2018
Sky Bet League One
Blackpool 0
Bristol Rovers 0
BRISTOL ROVERS LINE UP:
Smith, Partington, Lockyer, Sweeney, Bola, Lines, Sweeney (Telford 87), O Clarke, Sinclair, Harrison (Nicholls 74), Gaffney
Subs not used: Slocombe, Brown, Broadbent, Moore, Mensah
Saturday 13 January 2018
Sky Bet League One
Bradford City 1 (Taylor 90+2)
Northampton Town 2 (O'Toole 43, Long 62)
BRADFORD CITY LINE UP:
Raeder, Hanson (Guy 66), Knight-Percival, Kilgallon, Robinson, Gilliead, Vincelot, Dieng, Law, McCartan (Poleon 72), Taylor
Recent league results
BRISTOL ROVERS
13/01/18 - Blackpool (A) - 0-0 (D)
01/01/18 - Portsmouth (H) - 2-1 (W)
30/12/17 - Oldham Athletic (A) - 1-1 (D)
26/12/17 - Walsall (A) - 0-0 (D)
23/12/17 - Doncaster Rovers (H) - 0-1 (L)
BRADFORD CITY
13/01/18 - Northampton Town (H) - 1-2 (L)
01/01/18 - Fleetwood Town (A) - 2-1 (W)
30/12/17 - Oxford United (H) - 3-2 (W)
26/12/17 - Peterborough United (H) - 1-3 (L)
23/12/17 - AFC Wimbledon (A) - 1-2 (L)
League position
BRISTOL ROVERS - 17th (played 27, points 33)
BRADFORD CITY - 5th (played 27, points 48)
League top-scorers
BRISTOL ROVERS - Billy Bodin (9 goals)*, Ellis Harrison (7 goals)
BRADFORD CITY - Charlie Wyke (11 goals)
* Bodin has moved to Preston North End
Match Officials
Lee Swabey (pictured above) has been confirmed as the referee for City's fixture at Bristol Rovers on Saturday.
Mr Swabey has officiated nine matches so far this season, mainly in League One and League Two.
His latest match in the middle came as recently as last weekend when he oversaw Gillingham's 2-1 home victory over Rochdale.
The Devon-based referee hasn't actually taken charge of a City fixture since January 2016 when the Bantams drew 1-1 at Port Vale.
The two assistant referees for this Saturday will be Justin Amey and Darren Wilding.
The fourth official at the Memorial Stadium is scheduled to be Gary Parsons.
Kit Colours
The Bantams will wear their first choice claret and amber home strip at Bristol Rovers on Saturday.
Minute's Applause
Bristol Rovers are planning a minute's applause during this Saturday's game in honour of nine year old home supporter Bailey Cooper, who sadly lost his brave fight against cancer on Christmas Eve.
Rovers have asked all supporters to join in with the tribute in the ninth minute.
Six members of Bailey's family will attend Saturday’s game as guests.
Back the Bantams
City supporters can back the Bantams for success away to Bristol Rovers with Sky Bet!
Stuart McCall's side are currently priced at 19/10 to defeat Bristol Rovers at the Memorial Stadium.
The Bantams are also priced at 9/1 to beat Bristol Rovers by a 2-1 scoreline.
Dominic Poleon is available at 11/2 to opening the scoring, while Paul Taylor can be backed at 15/8 to score at anytime during the game.
Fans can place their bets now with Sky Bet by clicking HERE.
Please note, odds are subject to change.
Coverage
For those unable to get to the Memorial Stadium on Saturday, City supporters can follow live updates from the Bristol Rovers game via the club's official website, plus Facebook and Twitter pages.
City's Facebook and Twitter pages will include game updates on match-day, while the 'Match Centre' on the official website will give supporters all the stats, news and match-day action.
Full audio match commentary of the Bristol Rovers match can be found via iFollow Bantams. Keep up to date with BBC Radio Leeds' Tim Steere for match action and reaction from the game.
Subscribers of iFollow Bantams will now actually be able to hear post-match interviews from Stuart McCall and his players directly after the game via the extended audio match-day service.
New for this season, iFollow subscribers outside the UK and Ireland will also be able to watch LIVE coverage of the match as it happens!
Video post-match interviews from McCall and his players, plus extended match highlights over the coming days, is also available via iFollow.
On top of all that, iFollow subscribers can get interviews, action, previous encounters and highlights as well in the build up to Saturday's match.