Bradford City and Harrogate Town need January quality to help them achieve League Two playoff aims

The sides were meant to meet at Valley Parade on Boxing Day until Covid-19 in the hosts’ camp put paid to that. The Sulphurites are at Tranmere Rovers this evening for a rearranged last-32 Football League Trophy tie but despite the league’s insistence that the show will go on, the rising number of infections raises the possibility both could have played League Two football for the last time in 2021.

Bradford’s year has flatlined after the customary turbulence of a flying start followed by an alarming dip; Harrogate’s has seen the graph continue in its upward direction under manager Simon Weaver. Both have their eyes on May’s play-offs – City’s sights were higher, Town’s probably lower when the season kicked off – but need a little help to get there.

Even without the cryptocurrency injection owner Stefan Rupp creditably knocked back in what he (probably correctly) sees as the best interests of his club, Bradford will be busy in the January transfer window after a first half of the campaign which has not been disastrous, just undewhelming.

Things are a lot more comfortable than when Stuart McCall was sacked last December, but League Two’s pipe-and-slipper zone is not where they think they should be – now or ever.

Harrogate, operating on a different financial level with gates almost seven times smaller, will look to dip into the market too, but the reinforcement they most want is on the training ground already, working his way back after groin surgery.

The Sulphurites have surprised themselves and most other people with how well the first half of their season has gone. They are one win outside the play-offs and victory tonight will maintain an alternative route to a third Wembley trip in as many years. Not bad for a club which had never been there before the pandemic. Bradford are six places back in 16th.

Football clubs, though, can never pat themselves on the back at a job well done. The psyche of managers and fans is that as soon as you start doing well, do better.

Eight of Harrogate’s last 14 matches in all competitions have been lost and through no fault of his own, former Bantams centre-back Rory McArdle is probably a big reason why. He has missed the last 17 and after shrugging off the initial effects with three straights wins, it has caught up on his new team.

Often with defensive players in particular, you only fully appreciate their value when they are not there. The 34-year-old’s stock has risen considerably this winter.

It hardly helped that the natural choice for his stand-in, Will Smith, needed a double hernia operation in November.

It is not just what McArdle brings as a player, but as a leader in a team playing only its second season in the Football League.

Weaver complaining about his team’s “flaky” defending has become as much a staple of post-match interviews as Neil Warnock moaning about referees. “I can’t keep defending it,” said Weaver last week. “Defensively, we are miles off it.”

Their vampire-like aversion to defending crosses is in stark contrast with the way Luke Armstrong gobbles up aerial balls at the other end, and as a result they are in the division’s bottom six for goals conceded.

Even with McArdle close to returning – the Boxing Day postponement will buy him valuable extra time – a defensive signing or two cannot be ruled out but having spent heftily by their standards in the summer, there may be more young loan signings than experienced heavyweights.

Just as important will be keeping Jack Diamond, who has sparkled on loan from Sunderland, which always gets fans twitchy. Black Cats manager Lee Johnson says he will only recall the youngster back if it is to play, so Harrogate supporters will have to hope the League One side’s plethora of wide players stay in good nick.

With Diamond supplying centre-forward Armstrong, an outstanding summer signing, and Alex Pattison excelling deeper, that end of the pitch should pretty much look after itself, despite Weaver’s weekend frustrations.

Making chances has come easily for Bradford, despite some fans complaining about over-caution on the road, but taking them is a different story entirely.

Only Tranmere in the top 10 have scored fewer.

Injuries are undoubtedly a massive factor, with Lee Angol’s four league goals having come from only eight games. Seven-goal top-scorer Andy Cook has not played since October. To leave it at that, though, would be to gloss over deeper problems.

Manager Derek Adams recently spoke about the club “needing a rocket up it” and has the matches ready to light as soon as the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve. He wants better players but also better characters, more consistent and more reliable when the going gets tough.

That Bradford have only lost five league matches this season – three fewer than Harrogate – suggests they are not too far away from fireworks. Eight of the last 10 games have been drawn, none of them won.

For both Yorkshire clubs, one or two well-chosen reinforcements could go a very long way.

Last six games: Tranmere Rovers WWWLWD; Harrogate Town LLLWDW

Referee: C Hicks (Surrey)

Last time: Tranmere Rovers 3 Harrogate Town 2, January 26, 2021, League Two.