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Bradford City name Michael Collins as head coach

32-year-old former U18s coach will be joined by assistants Greg Abbott and Martin Drury

Michael Collins
Image: Michael Collins during his playing days with Oxford

Bradford City have named Michael Collins as their new head coach.

The former Republic of Ireland international became the Bantams' U18s coach in July 2017 and now steps up to the senior role, after Simon Grayson left the club at the end of last season.

Collins made over 300 appearances as a player, including spells at Huddersfield, Scunthorpe and Oxford, before finishing his career in the National League with FC Halifax Town.

The 32-year-old will be joined by assistant coaches Greg Abbott and Martin Drury at Valley Parade and he is ready to make the most of the opportunity.

"I've been working towards this for a lot of years now," Collins told Bradford's official website.

"Even when I was playing at Oxford I was coaching locally, and when I was at Leyton Orient I'd be in at Spurs' training ground as often as I could.

"We've all been fortunate enough to have had the chance to observe the previous managers at the club and we've seen first-hand the way that they worked. We can take a lot of positives from what we've seen over the last two years.

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"It also helps that Greg, Martin and I all know the training ground set-up very well too, so there won't be any surprises when we get started for pre-season.

"As a coaching team, we all fully appreciate that we will ultimately be judged on our ability in our roles and in line with the clubs' objectives.

"There will also be a period of time during which we have to earn the respect of everyone at the football club, especially that of the City fans."

Bradford finished 11th in Sky Bet League One last season and will find out their fixtures for the 2018/19 campaign when they are released on Thursday at 9am. Tune in to Sky Sports News or take a look at the Sky Sports app or website for all the details.

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