Carlisle United boss: State of Bradford City's pitch could be a factor

The Blues boss says the Bantams’ surface “hasn’t looked great” in recent times.

Simpson says Carlisle may need to adapt their game accordingly in the seventh-v-fourth clash this weekend.

“I’ve looked at their surface over the last few games and it doesn’t look great, and the weather forecast isn’t great either; it could be a tricky pitch to play on,” said Simpson.

“If it’s a scrap and a turn-‘em-round and work them and press them [sort of game] and that gets us a result, brilliant.

“If in the ideal world we can play some football, that will be better, but I’ll just want a result this weekend.

“We need to make sure we turn it into a five point difference [between United and Bradford] and not have them with a plus one [ahead of us].”

The clubs meet less than a month after their previous encounter, which Carlisle won 1-0 on Boxing Day.

This weekend’s hosts have made six signings since then, with United also active in the market with four new faces.

READ MORE: Mark Hughes looks ahead to Bradford v Carlisle United

Simpson admits it is not easy to gauge how the Bantams may line up because of the recent changes.

But he says it is all the more vital that most of his planning concerns his own team.

“It’s a great game to look forward to,” Simpson said.

“I was really looking forward to the Boxing Day game, too because I know what sort of team they can be.

“We’re going to Bradford where they have brilliant home support. We’ve got fantastic following with us as well. It makes for a really good atmosphere, and we’ve got to make sure we put on a performance.

“We made changes in the game against Bradford to try and get a grip into it. There are things I will look at from there.

“But because of the changes [they’ve made], there are all sorts of things that could happen.

Paul Huntington's goal earner United a 1-0 win over Bradford on Boxing Day (Image: Barbara Abbott)

“The left-back [Matty] Foulds has gone to Harrogate, [Tolaji] Bola’s come in, Adam Clayton’s signed, does he come straight into the team…Jamie Walker got sent off last weekend so he’s not available…Andy Cook’s not been starting recently, they’ve taken the young lad Dara Costelloe on loan, and he’s playing up front with a different striker to Cook…

“One thing I do know is what we want to do, how we’re going to play, and we’ve got to make sure that’s enough to get the result.”

On ex-Blues loan midfielder Clayton, who has joined Bradford from Doncaster, Simpson added: “He’s a really good footballer. It’ll be interesting to see where he plays, whether they change the shape because of him coming in, because Richie Smallwood’s a regular starter and they’re similar types of player.

“This is where it pleases me that we tend to go 90 per cent about us and ten per cent the opposition. We don’t need to change anything. We can go about it how we think is the right way, and hope we get a result.”