‘To be honest, I would swap anything for Bradford City to win promotion. Even my kids!’

GARY JONES would gladly swap the personal glory of being named in the PFA Team of the Year for the honour of leading Bradford City to promotion.

By Richard Sutcliffe Thursday, 2nd May 2013, 9:12 am

Gary Jones

The Bantams, who lost just two of their final 15 games to claim seventh place in League Two, host Burton Albion tonight as the play-offs gets under way.

A second trip of the season to Wembley for Phil Parkinson’s men is the prize at stake over two legs and a bumper crowd is expected at Valley Parade.

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Jones, named last Sunday in the ‘Team of the Year’ for the basement division after being voted for by his peers, said: “The aim over the past few weeks was to get in the play-offs but now we start again.

“We sneaked in the back door but coming late with a good run means everyone is full of confidence. Burton will be very tough because they finished seven points above us.

“They also had the best home record in the league and that means it will be tough. But we feel we can do it.”

Recent history suggests City can book a repeat trip to Wembley with the seventh-placed side in each of the past four seasons having gone on to reach the final.

For Jones, promotion would cap a remarkable first year at Valley Parade that has brought an appearance in a major Cup final, a place on the three-man shortlist for ‘League Two Player of the Year’ and Sunday’s accolade.

The veteran midfielder said: “Getting the (PFA) award was pleasing, of course it was. It is the second time I have been named (the previous one came in 2009-10 with Rochdale) and getting the acknowledgement of your peers is always something special.

“But I would swap it in an instant for promotion. To be honest, I’d swap anything for Bradford City to win promotion. Even my kids!”

Jones, the first City player to be named in a ‘Team of the Year’ since Omar Daley in 2008-09 and Darren Moore 10 years earlier, added: “Seriously, we are all desperate to win promotion. Bradford City have been in this division far too long. Hopefully, we can bring that to an end.

“The first leg against Burton will be our 62nd game of the season, which is an incredible achievement. The manager, Steve Parkin and Nick Allanby, the fitness guy, have all helped us hugely.

“They give us a break when we need it but they also work us hard when we need it. The balance is perfect, and that has been shown in recent weeks when the lads have looked unbelievably fit.

“That is the main reason why we sneaked into the play-offs. After losing (4-1) to Exeter (on March 16), no-one gave us a chance. But we put a great run together and got that last place. Training has been brilliant this week, with everyone flying round the place. We are raring to go for the first leg because Valley Parade should be bouncing once again.

“The target is getting a decent lead to take into the second leg. Obviously, the play-offs are unpredictable but we must make sure we don’t head there (for the return at noon on Sunday) with a deficit.”

The Brewers triumphed 1-0 at the Pirelli Stadium in October and the Bantams did the same at Valley Parade a week last Saturday.

Bradford also prevailed against 10-man Burton in the Capital One Cup, though only after coming from two goals down with seven minutes remaining to claim a 3-2 extra-time win.

Tonight marks City’s third appearance in the play-offs and hopes are high that the club can repeat the success of 1996, when a 3-2 aggregate triumph over Blackpool in the semi-finals was followed by a 2-0 win against Notts County at Wembley.

Bradford had to wait until February 24 this year for a return to the national stadium but it ended in disappointment as Swansea City turned on the style to win 5-0.