Bradford City joint chairman Julian Rhodes has described his club’s FA Cup first-round tie against the Cobblers at Saturday as ‘another huge game’.
Bradford have been cup kings this season and on Tuesday night secured a Capital One Cup victory at Wigan Athletic that has secured the club a home tie against Arsenal in the quarter-finals.
That match will be televised and draw a capacity crowd to Valley Parade, meaning the Bantams are likely to bank in excess of £300,000 from the evening.
By contrast, the FA Cup first-round contest at Sixfields on Saturday (3pm kick-off) will be for a place in the second round and a prize fund of £18,000.
But Rhodes wants Bradford to maintain their dominant form in knockout football this season, and inflict a second win over Aidy Boothroyd’s men in the space of 10 days.
Rhodes told the Bradford Telegraph & Argus: “The Northampton game is very important to the club – as is the JPT tie against Port Vale. The better you can do in the cups has a knock-on influence in the league and it gets people behind you.
“Tomorrow is another huge game. The FA Cup prize money can be enormous – you don’t get any in the League Cup – and the TV fees are so much more because it’s still the number one competition.
“It’s fantastic that we are doing well in the League Cup. Nobody could have ever imagined we would be here in the quarter-finals.
“Tuesday night has to go down as one of the best for a long, long time. But we have to keep it going.”
Bradford go into the game in the midst of a defensive injury crisis, having lost both of their central defenders in the past week.
Luke Oliver has been sidelined for the remainder of the season with an Achilles injury and Andrew Davies will miss between three and four months after suffering a twisted knee.
Bantams manager Phil Parkison said: “It’s a bitter blow to lose two players who have been very influential for us.
“We thought the swelling in his knee could be quite serious and sadly it’s proved to be the case.”
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