On the face of it, the Port Vale postponement has given the players extra time to recover from the Plymouth trip on the back of tough encounters against Exeter and Bolton.
But Alexander insists it is always mind over matter at this stage of the season when the busy Christmas rush is about to kick in.
The City boss said: “Whatever your legs and body have gone through, a lot of the games are in your head.
“If we start thinking, ‘oh, we’ve had no midweek game and we can relax’, then you can relax too much and that can be a negative force on your body and certainly your mindset. We’ve got to keep the balance right.”
Saturday’s visitors Reading had a 10-day gap between their last two games. But they followed up a 3-0 away win at Blackpool by losing at home to Peterborough.
Alexander believes his squad have demonstrated they can stay switched on for the long slog of the campaign.
“We talk about it in pre-season,” he added. “When we’re testing them in Austria, we’re saying, ‘you know what, this might happen in the season’ and you have to be ready for it.
“It’s getting that in your head and that’s why we’re always ready for the grind.
“I don’t say that in a bad way. It’s not a grind playing professional football, it’s brilliant.
“But you do have to physically work hard and if you let a bit of softness get into your mind, it makes you weak, tired and slow. Our team is not that.
“We’re high tempo, we’re fast and aggressive. We have to make sure we control our thoughts at all times and not see this as a chance to relax.
“It’s better to think that you’ll have 10 per cent more energy on Saturday. But it’s alright having it in the pocket, you better go and spend it.
“I’m sure the players will still go all out on Saturday, even if they had a game on Tuesday night. I wouldn’t expect anything different.”
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