Cheltenham Town manager Michael Flynn admits he wants to see Bradford City climb the EFL ladder but won’t be doing the Bantams any favours when they meet at Whaddon Road.
Flynn played for the Bantams for three seasons between 2009 and 2012, making 104 appearances and captaining the side.
The 44-year-old will now be looking to derail their promotion push on Tuesday night (19:45 BST) with Bradford fifth in League Two and just three points behind leaders Port Vale.
“It’s a club I love,” Flynn told BBC Radio Gloucestershire. “I loved every minute of being there; the crowd, the people there, the group of players.
“I can’t speak highly enough of Bradford, I’d love to see them higher up the divisions but tomorrow I’ll be doing a job.”
Bradford have not been beaten for four straight league games, beating promotion hopefuls Gillingham on Saturday.
By contrast, the Robins have been inconsistent; winning four games, drawing one and losing seven to lie 17th, six points adrift of the play-off positions.
They did claim their first away win of the season on Saturday with a 2-1 victory over Colchester United.
“I think they’ve had a good start but every game is different,” Flynn added.
“Anybody can beat anybody in this league and we have to make sure we keep this good feeling from the weekend going.”
Cheltenham will be without on-loan centre-back Sam Stubbs, who has started 10 league games for the Robins but is not able to play against his parent club.
Stubbs’ absence adds to a number of squad selection issues that Flynn has battled this season.
The Robins lost left-back Ryan Haynes to a knee injury in September while midfielder Harry Pell was also ruled out with an ACL injury at the start of the season.
“It’s so frustrating that we haven’t been able to pick the same squad twice for whatever reasons; illness, injuries, international call-ups – we’ve had it all,” Flynn added.
“We want that little bit of consistency where as a group we can get our heads down and stick to the task ahead.”