Skipper is looking forward to the fight for places...
The Magpies are in good shape heading into the first competitive match of the season, says Neal Bishop.
Bradford City visit Meadow Lane on Saturday for Round One of the Capital One Cup, following a month of pre-season preparations for Keith Curle’s squad.
Including Carl Regan and Tom Williams, who are set to sign on the dotted line ahead of the clash, 12 new players have been added to the ranks this summer.
Bishop feels that there is plenty of competition for places this term and is looking forward to the fight for the midfield berths.
“If you look at our position in comparison to this stage last year, I think we’re stronger as a squad,” he told Magpie Player.
“You’ve only got to look at the midfield, there’s about seven or eight midfielders fighting over two or three positions.
“That can only benefit the team, it can only benefit myself, Gav, Lidds – everyone’s fighting for their place.
“There’s got to be that competitive edge within the squad not only to beat the opposition but to beat your teammate to the shirt.”
In 2011.12 midfielders provided a large proportion of goals, with the likes of Jeff Hughes and Alan Judge hitting 17 and eight goals respectively.
Bishop wants more strikes to come throughout the team in the new season so that the responsibility is not left with the strikers alone.
“Goals have got to come from all over the team, I’ve got to score more, Jeff Hughes does his amount and Judgey’s probably got to score more.
“We’ve got to be hard on ourselves, we’ve got to be more demanding of ourselves to get more goals throughout the team.
“We’ve got to be threatening from all areas, not just the strikers, like we have done before relying on Hughesy to win us games, goals have got to come from all over the team.”
Ticket information for this weekend’s fixture can be found by clicking here.
Look out for full pre-match build-up later today.