Bradford City 3 Middlesbrough FC 3: Normal service resumes for Andy Cook as Championship side Boro must continue to make do without Chuba Akpom

As managers, as opposed to Manchester United playing legends, they shared the pain in May when Bradford City and Middlesbrough, fell short at the penultimate hurdle in their quest for promotion and were losing play-off semi-finalists.

It’s something that they will hope to rectify come next May.

Speaking of similarities, there is another one when analysing the merits of both these sides as the new season approaches. Namely, goals and spreading them around.

City were certainly provided a surfeit of them last season from Andy Cook.

Normal service very much resumed in Wednesday's friendly at Valley Parade with his radar working in fine order by virtue of two first-half equalisers and a second half strike to seal his treble.

It looked like Matty Platt had produced a faint touch to net the winner to crown a dominant City second-half after Richie Smallwood's free-kick was nodded across goal by Cook, who claimed the goal immediately after the game, with video footage backing it up

Hat-tricks matter in pre-season to a striker.

With virtually the last action of the game, substitute Daniel Nkrumah levelled after being slotted clear by Sam Silvera, who had put Boro ahead early on.

Ultimately for City, the extent to which the supporting cast chipped in with goals let them down in the final verdict last season and sharing the load could well be key in regard to the Bantams’ promotion prospects in 2023-24. Here's hoping.

By contrast, Chuba Akpom, who fired an identical total of 28 league goals to claim his own golden boot last season, remains conspicuous by his absence for Boro.

Ostensibly, an injury niggle has ensured he has missed the pre-season schedule.

Looming large in the background is the fact that he has now entered the final year of his contract with speculation abound regarding a possible exit. Without Akpom, it is not easy to see where Boro’s goals will come from, consistently, at Championship level.

More especially with Cameron Archer unlikely to return for a second loan stint, judging by Aston Villa manager’s Unai Emery's comments this week.

Cook, the past, present and future at Boro, was first kept interested by Boro’s ‘risk-and-reward’ policy of playing out from the back.

Following a moment’s indecision from Jack Stott after the ball was played to him by Aussie keeper Tom Glover, Cook picked the pocket of the young Boro midfielder and levelled to cancel out Silvera’s opener.

Silvera, another A-League arrival, found fertile Yorkshire soil for the second Wednesday running. After a neat early goal at Rotherham, he tucked away another quick-fire strike following Isaiah Jones's tidy assist.

After Cook’s gift, It was then deja vu for Alex Gilbert, who backed up his goal against the Millers last week – this time with a penalty. It will have been duly noted by Carrick.

It came after Smallwood – a Teessider whose nickname was the ‘Dormanstown Destroyer’ in his time at Boro brought down the dangerous Jones.

Carrick’s defence was breached again before the break when Cook bludgeoned in a header via the underside of the bar following former Leeds and Barnsley man Clarke Oduor’s left-wing cross in an entertaining four-goal first half, with City playing a 3-5-2 formation.