Brady backs Mark Hughes to be a success at Bradford City

Hughes was named Bradford boss at the end of February after Derek Adams paid the price for City’s disappointing campaign..

The 58-year-old had only ever managed in the Premier League, with spells in charge of Manchester City, Fulham, Queens Park Rangers and Blackburn Rovers, in addition to a five-year stint as Wales boss.

It took everyone by surprise when he rocked up in League Two, and so far he has found things tough, overseeing only two wins from seven games ahead of Saturday’s trip to Sixfields.

However, with this season already a write-off for the Bantams, Brady believes Hughes will benefit from having the freedom to ‘experiment’ before taking a shot at promotion next term.

"I don't know how Mark viewed it but obviously Bradford are a big club and he probably feels he can take them up to where they want to be,” said Brady.

"I can't speak for Mark but throughout my playing career, I played in the Conference, in League Two and a little bit of League One and I had five managers who coached me who played in the Premier League.

"They are used to a better level of player than they deal with at a club in a league further down the pyramid but I'm sure he has the skills to get the best out of his group.

"I have watched them and he has got them playing a nice brand of football, they are quite fluid, and he's now in a position to possibly to experiment a little bit and take a look at his squad between now and the end of the season.

"They can't go down and they can't go up but as a manager, he will be looking at who he wants to keep and what the best system might be for next season, so I'm sure there will be a bit of experimentation going on.”