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One of Sheffield Wednesday’s promotion rivals have ‘reluctantly’ given a Championship club permission to speak to their manager.

Bradford City are top of League One and are the only team above The Owls in the third-tier and are the only side to have beaten them, winning 1-0 at Hillsborough last month. The Bantams finished fourth last term but lost out in the play-offs to eventual winners Bolton Wanderers in the semi-finals.

But the West Yorkshire outfit look set to lose their manager Graham Alexander, who has been given the green light to talk to Preston North End, who are searching for a new boss after sacking former Owls player and Blades manager Paul Heckingbottom.

Alexander made 372 league appearances for Preston across two spells and is a popular figure at Deepdale. Should he be appointed, his first challenge would be get Preston out of the relegation zone. They currently sit second from bottom with one win from eight, three points from safety.

The Bantams said in a statement: “Bradford City AFC can confirm we have been approached by Preston North End to speak to Graham Alexander regarding the Sky Bet Championship side’s managerial vacancy. Reluctantly, Bradford City has granted permission for Graham to speak to Preston North End. The club will be making no further comment at this time.”

Alexander’s first game in charge would be at home to Millwall on October 10, while Bradford travel to Reading on October 3.