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Bradford Football Club

Jefferies to keep the faith

Jim Jefferies is expected to name an unchanged side for the visit of Newcastle tomorrow, whilst Andy O'Brien is poised to make his Magpies debut. O'Brien set for Newcastle debut
There is perhaps no better time to play Newcastle because Alan Shearer and Kieron Dyer are both injured, and they have been badly out of sorts recently. In fact, they have recorded four defeats and a draw in their last five games.
However, unlike City, they are all but mathematically safe from the threat of relegation.
Jefferies is likely to stick with the side that drew with Manchester City a fortnight ago, and Robert Molenaar should play despite missing some training this week.
As far as O'Brien is concerned, Jefferies joked: "I hope he's a bag of nerves and makes a few mistakes, and we'll wish him all the best after that! He's a great lad, and we were very disappointed to sell him."
City will once more have a couple of teenagers on the bench, as they did against Manchester City. Jefferies is keen to have a closer look at Gareth Grant at first-team level, after some promising displays in the reserves.
Probable starting line-up: Walsh, Locke, Wetherall, Molenaar, Whalley, Jacobs, McCall, Jess, Blake, Carbone, Ward.

David Wetherall: I won't ask to leave

David Wetherall has revealed he will not ask for a transfer, even though he is not keen on playing Division One football next season. Wetherall won't walk out on Bantams
The former Leeds and Sheffield Wednesday centre-back, who has missed four months of the season through a groin injury, had admitted it is now inevitable that The Bantams will be relegated from the Premiership at the end of the season.
However, despite insisting that he will not submit a transfer request to Jim Jefferies, Wetherall has admitted the situation may be out of his hands.
He said: "The manager has said he wants me to stay, but he told me he wanted Andy O'Brien to stay and he was then sold.
"It makes you wonder from that point of view what's going to happen. It's odds-on that we'll go down and I don't want to play in the First Division, but I've got another three years on my contract and won't go knocking on doors demanding a move.
"All in all I think it's odds-on I'll be here next season, but you never know in football."
Everton and West Ham are both thought to be keen on the defender, whose goal against Liverpool on the last day of last season preserved City's Premiership status for another year.

Eoin Jess happy for full-time switch

Eoin Jess says he is prepared to sign a permanent deal with City in the summer, even if it means playing in the First Division next season.
Having had a fall-out with his club Aberdeen, prompting his move to Valley Parade in the first place, he has now agreed to extend his loan with City until the end of the season.
And encouragingly for City, he says if the club offer him the right contract in the summer, he would be happy to sign it and play in the First Division.
He says: "We'll sit down in the summer and see if we can thrash out a deal. I've enjoyed my time here so I see no reason why I shouldn't stay, even if the club are relegated. That's a situation I considered before I came down in the first place."
Jim Jefferies hopes to build the squad around the likes of Jess next season, and is pleased to get him to agree to stay for the time being, saying: "He had a straightforward choice really; he could either stay at Aberdeen and not play or come back to us and play. We hope to use the next couple of months to convince him to stay as long as he keeps up his level of performance. I'd like him to stay and there aren't too many players of his quality that you can get for nothing."

Neville Southall linked with Gulls hotseat

City's goalkeeping coach Neville Southall is being linked as a possible contender for the manager’s role at Torquay United.
Southall, who played with The Gulls last season, is keen on getting into management after a spell as a coach with the Welsh national team.
Colin Lee is in temporary charge at Plainmoor following the sacking of Wes Saunders earlier this week, but he has insisted that he does not want the job on a full-time basis.
However, he could stay on until the end of the season, and Southall's name could be considered in the summer.
If you can't make it to the game this weekend why not get your copy of the programme from Programme Master.
Thursday, March 29, 2001

Eoin Jess agrees to loan extension

City have confirmed that Eoin Jess will be remaining at Valley Parade for the rest of the season following discussions on Wednesday night.
The Scottish international's loan deal expired at midnight but Jim Jefferies managed to thrash out a deal with the player to prolong his stay with the Bantams.
However, with Jess now seeing out the season with Bradford, it is still unclear whether he will put pen to paper on a permanent deal in the summer.
Jefferies is hopeful he can tie the player to a long term contract in the close season, as he sees him as a possible cornerstone around whom he can rebuild the squad.
But for now the Bradford boss is just glad to have Jess on board for the final nine games of the campaign

O'Brien's chances boosted

Andy O'Brien's chances of facing the Bantams on Saturday have improved with news that fellow Magpie Aaron Hughes is struggling for fitness. O'Brien to step in
Hughes has been an ever present at the heart of the Newcastle defence this season, but injured his ankle prior to Northern Ireland's game in Buglaria.
The 21-year-old missed the international clash and returns to Tyneside having not trained for three days, leaving the door open for O'Brien to make his bow for Bobby Robson's side against City.
Should Hughes recover in time to play on Saturday, it's thought Robson may rest him anyway to give O'Brien his chance, with Nicos Dabizas also unavailable for selection with a knee injury.

International round-up

Ian Nolan and Dean Saunders both played for Northern Ireland and Wales respectively yesterday with the pair suffering disappointing results. Deano relegated to the bench
Out-of-favour Nolan played at left-back for Sammy McIlroy's side against Bulgaria but the Northern Irish were beaten 4-3, giving them a slim chance of reaching the finals.
The City defender was substituted in injury time.
Meanwhile, Welsh recordbreaker Saunders was surprisingly left on the bench for their home clash with the Ukraine.
The Bantams striker did however get his 75th cap in the 1-1 draw at the Millennium Stadium, coming on as a second half substitute.
Wales also face an uphill task to reach Japan and South Korea next summer.

Rovers double up on reserves

City's reserves slumped to a second defeat in a week at the hands of Blackburn, losing 2-1 at Valley Parade last night.
Billy Mckinlay was on target for the Bantams against his old club, after Steve Foster and Marc Richards had put the visitors 2-0 up.