Two wins from two is, by any measure, an encouraging start to a League One season. Bradford City's Callum Connolly is understandably upbeat about what the Bantams have produced so far, but he is keeping the enthusiasm measured as they prepare to visit Hillsborough and face Sheffield Wednesday.

Speaking to BBC Radio Leeds, the midfielder described it as "a positive start" while acknowledging that the real test of what Bradford have built this summer arrives on the road against another third-tier side who will be harbouring ambitions of their own. Two wins from two is two wins from two: it tells you something, but it does not yet tell you everything.

Early momentum, but the evidence is thin

Four games is four games, and two games is even less. Bradford supporters will be encouraged, naturally, because consecutive victories at the start of a campaign create a platform. Points banked in August sit just as comfortably in the final tally as points gathered in March. The caution worth applying, though, is that the quality of opposition faced early in the season is often uneven, and the table in mid-August flatters and misleads in roughly equal measure.

What Connolly's comments do confirm is that there is a mood of confidence inside Valley Parade. Manager Graham Alexander spoke earlier in pre-season about wanting Bradford to be "the ultimate team", a collective built on work rate and organisation rather than individual brilliance. Back-to-back wins suggest that message has taken hold quickly, at least in terms of results.

A trip to Hillsborough is a proper gauge

Sheffield Wednesday at home will represent a stiffer examination. Hillsborough remains one of the more atmospheric grounds in the third tier, and Wednesday will be eager to get their own campaign moving. A fixture between two clubs with significant support bases and genuine promotion ambitions is precisely the sort of game that can shape confidence for the weeks that follow.

For Connolly specifically, these are the occasions that define a midfielder's season. Previewing a game is easy enough; performing in it when the crowd is up and the opposition midfield is organised is where reputations are made or left behind. His willingness to speak openly about the challenge suggests he, and presumably the dressing room around him, are not shying away from the occasion.

What the wider picture looks like

Bradford sitting on six points from six after two rounds puts them among the early pacesetters, though the table is barely worth reading at this stage of the season. What it does offer is confidence, the kind that makes a long away trip feel less daunting and allows a squad to approach a difficult fixture with something to build on rather than something to recover from.

Sheffield Wednesday, meanwhile, will be looking to use Hillsborough as a fortress. The early weeks of any League One campaign tend to define the tone of what follows: clubs that string a few positive results together in August often carry that habit well into autumn. Bradford will want to ensure that narrative belongs to them rather than their hosts.

Connolly's measured optimism is probably the correct register. Two wins is a positive start. What happens at Hillsborough will tell us considerably more about whether Bradford are genuine contenders or simply off to a tidy beginning.

Frequently asked

When do Bradford City play Sheffield Wednesday?
Bradford City are travelling to Hillsborough to face Sheffield Wednesday in a League One fixture. The match was previewed by Callum Connolly on BBC Radio Leeds on 18 August 2026.
How has Bradford City started the 2026-27 League One season?
Bradford City began the season with back-to-back victories, putting them on six points from their opening two League One fixtures.
Who is Callum Connolly and what has he said about Bradford City?
Callum Connolly is a midfielder at Bradford City. Speaking to BBC Radio Leeds, he described the club's opening to the season as 'a positive start' ahead of the trip to Hillsborough to face Sheffield Wednesday.