RICKY ALVAREZ admits he had never heard of Bradford City before they beat Chelsea in the FA Cup fourth round – but the Sunderland winger insists his side will not be taking the League One club lightly when they meet in ten days time.

Bradford produced one of the biggest FA Cup upsets of all time when they came from two goals down to win 4-2 at Stamford Bridge, with the victory securing the West Yorkshire club a profile they do not normally enjoy.

The last time they were in the national spotlight, they went all the way to the 2013 Capital One Cup final, only to lose 5-0 to Swansea City, but having only moved to England last summer, Alvarez admits he was completely unaware of Phil Parkinson’s side before they shocked the Premier League leaders last month.

He will know all about them by next Sunday, with Sunderland heading to Valley Parade looking to secure a place in the FA Cup quarter-finals, and while there might be 38 league places between the two sides, everyone in the Black Cats camp is expecting a difficult affair.

When asked whether he was aware of Bradford prior to last month’s heroics, Alvarez said: “No, but I know this is going to be a hard game for us now, just like the last one (against Fulham) was.

“We need to keep doing the things we’re doing now, and carry on winning. The FA Cup has a great tradition in England and we just need to keep trying to do better, trying to get through to the next round. And then if we do that, try to get to the next round again.”

As well as having to contend with a Bradford side that are understandably buoyant in the wake of their Chelsea success, Sunderland will also have to cope with a Valley Parade pitch that is currently in an extremely poor state.

Bradford’s last home game – a 1-1 draw with Colchester United - was ruined by both teams’ struggles to pass the ball across the rutted surface, and Gus Poyet admits his side will have to change their approach a week on Sunday.

The Sunderland head coach generally urges his players to retain possession and look to build attacks by rotating the ball at pace, but he accepts that will be all but impossible against Bradford. Instead, he will encourage a more direct style, raising the importance of getting Connor Wickham back to full fitness.

The striker had a scan on his injured calf yesterday, and is rated as a major doubt for this weekend’s Premier League game at Swansea.

“We will need to be clever (at Bradford) and make sure we are not taking any risks,” said Poyet, who guided Sunderland to the quarter-finals of both of last season’s cup competitions. “Unfortunately, we will have to play a little bit differently and probably be a bit more direct.

“It will be very important that we pick the right players to play in that game. It will be different, but it’s something we will have to adapt to because there’s nothing we can do.
“I saw Bradford play in the (League Cup) run where they got to the final, and they can play as well so I am sure they are not happy about the pitch either. It’s not just a problem for us.”

Whether Alvarez’s trickery is conducive to the Valley Parade surface remains to be seen, but having watched the Argentinian produce comfortably his best display in a Sunderland shirt on Tuesday, Poyet will surely be tempted to hand him an extended run in the first team.

With Adam Johnson touch and go for Saturday’s trip to the Liberty Stadium after a thumb operation, Alvarez’s creativity and goalscoring threat set him apart from the vast majority of Sunderland’s midfielders, and while there is still a question mark about his ability to trouble better defences that Fulham’s, he looks ideally suited to Poyet’s move towards a three-man attacking line.

His first five months as a Sunderland player were blighted by a succession of injuries, and while some of his earlier displays hardly warranted a lengthy spell in the starting line-up, there were mitigating factors to help explain his struggles.

“I’ve been here for a few months, but I’ve had my injury problems,” said Alvarez, who is on a season-long loan from Inter Milan, with a deal in place for a permanent £7.5m switch in the summer. “But now I’m back with a lot of confidence to show the supporters what I can do.

“It was a very important goal (against Fulham), but the most important thing was that it helped us get the result we wanted. We got the reward for a very good performance.

“It was important to get another win after the Burnley game. I thought we played really well throughout the whole game and were unlucky with the goal we conceded. That’s something we need to improve, but we have to play in that same way in the games ahead.”

* Sunderland have been allocated 4,200 tickets for the fifth-round game at Bradford on Sunday, February 15 (2.30pm), priced at £15 for adults, £10 for over-60s and full-time students, and £5 for under-16s.

The tickets will be sold using the away-game loyalty scheme as follows: 17 or more points (Feb 5-7), 12-16 points (Feb 9), 5-11 points (Feb 10), 0-4 points (Feb 11), General sale (Feb 12).