BARROW AFC manager Pete Wild has called for his players to show 'drive' and 'determination' when they take on Mark Hughes' Bradford City this weekend.

The Bluebirds head into the game off the back of a poor run in League Two which has seen them only win one of their last 12 games.

Wild's Barrow are also still searching for their first win of 2023 after only scoring five goals in the eight games since the new year while conceding 12. 

READ MORE: Barrow's conquerors overjoyed as Bluebirds slip into bottom half

Hughes' Bradford on the other hand are a side in form and are unbeaten in their last five. 

Ahead of the clash in West Yorkshire, Wild shared his assessment of the former Manchester City bosses' side.

He said: "They are a really good team, really good footballing team. They move the ball really well, some good players, get balls in the box, decent on set-pieces, they're a team that will be really tough to play against come Saturday."

In the reverse fixture in August, Barrow took three points at the SO Legal Stadium with a last-gasp 96th minute winner from Josh Gordon in the 3-2 thriller.

This winner came a matter of seconds after Andy Cook had drawn Bradford City level and seemingly dashed the Bluebirds' chances of three points.

After their poor run of recent form, Wild spoke about how he wants the reverse fixture to inspire a change in his squad's mentality ahead of the clash.

He said: "That drive, that determination, that never say die attitude, that is what I want to see and hopefully we see lots of that on Saturday."

Jake Young was also on the scoresheet for Bradford City in that game.

This was a performance that was noted by the Barrow boss before his loan move to the Bluebirds from the Bantams in the January window.

"We were after Jake in the summer and he went to Bradford quite quickly, but he came on and did well against us in that game and he is somebody that we had been tracking for a while," he said.