Friday night football returns to 
Ronnie Moore will be hoping his Tranmere side can pick up consecutive wins for the first time since the end of November, whilst under pressure Bradford manager Colin Todd will be looking for his side's first points after the departure of striker Dean Windass to
Bradford
Formed: 1903
Ground: Valley Parade
Manager: Colin Todd
Nickname: The Bantams
Season Finish 2005/06: 11th (Coca-Cola League One)
Previous Meetings:
Earlier in the season in
Both goals for the Bantams came in the second half, with Bower netting the first on 54 minutes before former Everton player Steven Schumacher clinched the game in the 71st minute with a volley from the edge of the area.
Last season, Rovers drew twice with Bradford in the league, 2-2 at Prenton Park and 0-0 in Yorkshire, whilst in the F.A. Cup the Bantams went through 2-1 with two highly questionably goals after Greenacre had given Brian Little's side a first half lead.
Vital Stats:
City have only won 5 times in 38 trips to Prenton Park
Bradford are unbeaten in eight against Tranmere, a run going back to the 1997/98 season for Rovers last win
In 38 games at Prenton Park between the two sides, there have been 116 goals
Rovers last defeat on January 19th came to Southport (1-0) in 1957 (five games since)
There have been 20 goals in the last six games between the two sides
The Form Book:
Tranmere Rovers last 6 home games: WDWLLW
Bradford City last 6 away games: WLDLLL
Colin Todd has not enjoyed the best season at Bradford so far this season, with his side lying 12th in the table after 28 games, with 35 points.
In their first six away games of the season, The Bantams picked up a reasonably good seven points, with two wins, a draw and three defeats away from Valley Parade.
On the opening day, Colin Todd's side travelled to The City Ground and lost 1-0, whilst two weeks later they picked up their first away points of the season with a 3-0 demolition job of Crewe Alexandra.
Two defeats were up next for Colin Todd's side, as they lost 2-1 to Brentford at
Todd's side firstly beat Cheltenham 2-1 at
This brings us to their last six away games, five if you are not including the cup appearances, a period in which they have twice, 2-1 against struggling Leyton Orient and then 1-0 at Port Vale in their last outing.
In between, they have drawn once with
They have had just one other away cup match, this coming in the first round of the League Cup, when they drew 1-1 with Carlisle United but eventually lost 4-3 on penalties.
Tranmere have had a great start at
Rovers started off the season with four consecutive wins at
After this, they went on a run of three home games without a victory, as
Rovers then defeated Bournemouth (1-0), Millwall (3-1) and Blackpool (2-0) at
In their last 3 home games, Rovers remain unbeaten with seven points out of nine. On New Years Day, they defeated Rotherham 2-1 before drawing 1-1 with
Double Hit:
Over the years, loads of players have played for both Tranmere Rovers and
One of many other players who has had the honour of playing for both clubs is current Tranmere goalkeeper Gavin Ward.
Ward started his career at Aston Villa, before moving on to Shrewsbury and West Brom where he failed to make an appearance.
In October 1989 Ward moved to Cardiff City on a free-transfer and spent four years in Wales, making 67 appearances before moving on to Leicester City in 1993 for £175,000.
Ward was part of the Leicester team who defeated Tranmere in the play-off semi finals in the 1993/94 season, keeping a clean sheet at Prenton Park and he made 46 appearances for The Foxes in two years at the club.
In 1995, he left Leicester due to limited first team chances and made his way to Bradford City on a free-transfer, where he was to spend just eight months and make 47 appearances before signing for Bolton in March 1996 for £300,000.
After joining Bolton, Ward went on to play 34 games for the club, before joining Burnley on loan in 1998 and then joining Stoke, Walsall, Coventry, Preston and a spell on loan at Barnsley making a combined total of 148 appearances for those six clubs over eight years.
At the age of 36 and seeking first team football, Ward joined Tranmere Rovers under new boss Ronnie Moore in July 2006 and before getting injured in the Boxing Day fixture at Huddersfield, Ward had made 26 appearances for his new club and then came on as a substitute at Nottingham Forest four days after his injury.
On August 30th, Ward scored the first goal of his career as he miss-hit a 90-yard free-kick into the back of the net against Leyton Orient in a 3-0 win for Rovers.
One to Watch:
After Dean Windass' departure from Valley Parade this week, there had to be a radical change in the "one to watch" for Bradford at
Midfield anchor man Steven Schumacher is a player who should almost certainlly be watched with a keen eye.
After being released by Everton as a 20-year old in 2004, Schumacher joined Bradford and has since made 113 appearances for the club, including 100 in the league.
This season alone, the 6'0 tall Bradford number 7 has made 32 appearances, scoring four goals (including one against Tranmere in the reverse fixture this season), when he has only scored 10 league goals for the Bantams in his career.
A good passer of the ball with a good shot and a strong tackler, Schumacher failed to break into the Everton first team but did spend time on loan at Carlisle in the 2003/04 season, where he made 6 appearances and scored once.
So far this season, Schumacher, now 23, has picked up six yellow cards and has therefore already served a one match ban.
Team News:
Tranmere should be near full fit for this Friday night encounter. Chris Greenacre came on as a second half substitute against
Jones' Prediction: Tranmere Rovers 2-0