Bradford boss Phil Parkinson believes his side have already won one psychological battle ahead of Monday night's FA Cup quarter-final replay against Reading at the Madejski Stadium.
Both sides made wholesale changes to their Saturday line-ups in order to combat the frantic fixture scheduling and it was the second-string Bantams who came out best with a gutsy 1-1 draw at Notts County.
Bradford's fortunes came in contrast to their Reading rivals, as Steve Clarke sent out a team entirely unrecognisable from the one that earned a draw at Valley Parade last week and saw the Royals slump to a heavy 4-0 defeat at Watford.
Parkinson admitted his own side's push for a place in the League One play-offs had made team selection tricky at Meadow Lane, but is convinced the respective weekend performances will have given his own side a bigger lift.
Parkinson said: "I think Reading had an advantage because they are not going to go up or down whereas we've got to make sure we're still fighting on two fronts.
"Reading were able to make more changes but they got thumped which won't help them. When we've made changes we've got results and that will give everybody a lift because the lads who came in are walking around with a spring in their step.
"I think we got it right. I was pleased with the balance of the team (at Notts County) and I thought all the lads who came in actually added something in terms of freshness."
Both Parkinson and Clarke have made their feelings clear about the controversial scheduling of the last eight replay, which is due primarily to a ruling that domestic games must not clash with UEFA competitions.
But Parkinson hopes to be able to bring back all the first-team players who have starred in their improbable cup run so far, with striker Jon Stead showing a welcome return to form with a swinging opener at Meadow Lane.
Stead, who will look to maintain his record of scoring in every round of this season's competition at the Madejski Stadium, had looked off the pace as he struggled with a minor injury issue in recent weeks, with his last goal coming in the famous 2-0 win over Sunderland last month..
However, the 31-year-old has been given time to recover by Parkinson and it paid off in his 11th goal of the season before he was taken off on the hour mark as a precautionary measure.
"I thought Jon just needed a break," said Parkinson. "He has run himself into the ground every weekend but he looked fresher.
"I gave him that opportunity of a rest and we played him for 60 minutes yesterday. He's clinical with both feet and it was a great finish from him so hopefully the break will have done him good."
Source: PA
