Bradford boss Stuart McCall has hailed his players for returning from their summer break in much better shape than last pre-season.

McCall was installed at the Bantams helm last May and did not have long to work with a hastily-assembled squad before the new season started.

He told the club's official website: "The players have come back at a much better level than they were this time last year, which makes a big difference to everything. You can get more done.

"We are able to get on the ball work a lot earlier, which the players enjoy, but it's still hard work for them.

"They are going at 90% of their maximum on the heart-rate monitors. New stats show that just because players aren't running lap after lap in pre-season they are still in the same zone in terms of intense fitness work."