Bradford City have recently appointed Stuart McCall as the manager for the third time, following the departure of Gary Bowyer on Monday afternoon.

The Bantams have been looking for an immediate bounce-back to League One this season following their disappointing relegation last time out and looked on course to do that earlier in the season when they were hopping in and out of the top three in League Two.

However, a run without victory stretching to seven games proved to be too much for those higher up at the club, and the 3-0 defeat to Oldham Athletic at the weekend saw Bowyer lose his job.

In comes Stuart McCall, who was the man that Bowyer replaced back in April and it is now the Leeds-born manager’s third stint at the club, after two previous spells in recent years.

With the appointment building a lot of positivity at the club, especially with the fans, there will be a host of players eager to make the right impression early on and make a claim for starting for the rest of the season.

Here, we take a look at three players who will benefit from the new manager’s arrival…

Paudie O’Connor

The Irish centre-back signed permanently from Leeds United in the summer after a loan spell that began in January of last year.

His form has been similar to that of the whole club, with him starting very well at the Utilita Energy Stadium this season, before taking a dip and seeing his involvement fall by the wayside.

O’Connor hasn’t played since New Year’s Day in the league, but with the arrival of McCall, he could see his involvement grow in the back end of the season.

Hope Akpan

The central midfielder is another that signed last season and could benefit in the same way with new management compared to how the side played under Garry Bowyer. Akpan is a very powerful midfielder but also has some solid technical ability that hasn’t quite been utilised by the Bantams so far since he arrived in 2018.

Injuries haven’t helped him in his time in West Yorkshire and have seen him miss out in a number of games already this season.

With McCall set to make changes to his side, Akpan could be another to benefit from the new appointment, especially with a potential change in style of play.

The battle for places is probably at its strongest in Bradford’s midfield, with a host of central players eager to get more playing time.

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Shay McCartan

The Northern Ireland international has also struggled with injury this season and not had chance to get any regular playing time, making just a handful of starts in League Two this season and scoring one goal.

Bradford haven’t been free-scoring this season from their strikers, and the departure of James Vaughan, and the arrival of Lee Novak, indicated that Bowyer was more than happy to see McCartan stay on the periphery of the first-team.

A change in style of play could also mean that there isn’t as much need for the bullish target-men like Clayton Donaldson to feature heavily.