Graham Alexander left sweating on Bradford City player situation ahead of massive promotion decider | OneFootball

The Bantams are attempting to escape League Two after six seasons in the division.

Bradford City boss Graham Alexander has admitted that they are going to have to make a late call on Jack Shepherd's availability for this Saturday's promotion-deciding match against Fleetwood Town.

The mission statement for Bradford this weekend is simple: beat Pete Wild's side in front of a packed-out Valley Parade. Doing so will allow them to free themselves of the League Two shackles that they have carried since being relegated to the fourth tier of English football in 2019.

It's between them, former title-favourites Walsall and Notts County for the third and final automatic promotion spot in the division, but, crucially, Bradford have control over their own destiny as they are ahead of the Saddlers and Notts on points.

Bradford facing nervous Jack Shepherd fitness call ahead of Fleetwood

City have dealt with some poor injury luck this season, not least with regard to their talisman, Andy Cook, who was ruled out for the remainder of the season on the first day of the year due to an ACL injury.

Alexander may be without another key player in Shepherd for this weekend's all or nothing clash with the Cod Army. A lingering groin issue prevented the Barnsley loanee, who has started 75% of the Bantams' league contests this season, from lining up at the back for Bradford's pivotal 2-1 defeat to Doncaster Rovers last weekend.

"We’re going to give him as much time as possible to recuperate and let it settle down," said the Bradford boss on Shepherd's injury, via the Telegraph and Argus. "It will be a case of him training Thursday and Friday and seeing how he is.

"There’s no point in him even attempting to train today or Wednesday because there’s nothing to gain from it. We pretty much know what his issue is. It’s pretty much a case of how much it will settle down and where his comfort level is when he goes to train.

"We’ll just assess that as the week goes on."

Bradford should be favoured to grab the last automatic promotion spot

The points advantage should give Bradford the confidence that they need to go and get over the line this weekend. A draw would be enough to take County out of contention, and while Walsall face struggling Crewe Alexandra, there's been nothing of late to suggest that the Saddlers will be able to get a win in such a pressurised match.

Fleetwood will put up a fight against City. They won't have any sort of quality advantage over the hosts, but Wild knows how to get his teams to put up a good fight on the road.

It's in your hands, Bradford