Antoni Sarcevic: 15 more ugly Bradford City 1-0 wins will do nicely, thank you

Sarcevic's "instinctive" finish 48 minutes in was anything but ugly but the rest of the game between two sides a point apart in League One at kick-off was a real arm wrestle.

On a freezing night and a pitch that was sandy in places, without their suspended captain Max Power and injured defensive stalwart Ibou Touray, the Bantams leapfrogged the Hatters into fourth.

It was a million miles away from the attacking exhibition that destroyed Posh, but the defensive organisation and discipline was equally pleasing in its own way.

"We knew it was going to be a tight game," said Sarcevic, signed from Stockport two summers ago. "They're a top team, Stockport, as we've seen from their league position and what they did last season.

"I'm just glad I was the man to produce a moment that won the game.

"Looking at our home record this season, I think Stockport have come here and paid a bit of respect to that and set up in a way to nullify us.

"Tuesday games are tough – they had a weekend off, let's not forget.

"We had a game, albeit we were pretty much the top team on Saturday, but we've gone into a Tuesday-night game, heavy pitch against a top League One team and we've come away with a 1-0 win.

"If we can pick up 15 1-0s I'm pretty sure the fans and everyone inside the club will be happy because it will hopefully get us to what we want to achieve.

"We want games like Peterborough where we have 29 shots on goal but it's not (always) going to happen."

His goal, he said, was "just pure instinct. I probably should do it more often, but yeah, just instinct and thankfully I saw it nestle in.

"To score in front of the Kop like that, there's no better feeling."

Manager Graham Alexander believes the Bantams have come out of a sticky spell stronger after four defeats in five games, and will grow from Tuesday.

"The players learn more about each other through difficult times," he said. "I think we've learnt over the last month and certainly in the last couple of games that we're still fighting.

"Apart from Cardiff, the other (defeats) were away. That's not an excuse because it's something we have to address. But I just thought we had a difficult month with different things going on.

“The biggest thing we've tried to keep is our composure, our belief in the players, our belief in what we do.

"It's hopefully seen us through that difficult patch and we've come out better because the players have learnt about what it's like to play for Bradford City on both sides of the coin, what it's like to play at the top end of this division."

Bradford's biggest ever midweek crowd, 22,488, played a big part in helping their team over the line.

"Everyone knows what this fanbase is all about and what it means to this football club and I'm just glad we're on the pitch giving them something to cheer about," said Sarcevic.

"Our home record pretty much sums it up – they're very much needed week in, week out by us."