Bradford City boss Graham Alexander on why League Two pressure and run-in tension is just fine by him

How times have refreshingly changed as Graham Alexander will be quick to vouch for.

Almost a year to the day on Saturday, City were hammered 5-1 at home to a Mansfield Town side who went onto be promoted from League Two.

Boos rang out at BD8 following a second miserable defeat on home soil in a row. Alexander's side were then 15th in the table and listing.

His team did improve ahead of the end of the season in fairness, but it was from the same level as the current one where City are right in the mix for automatic promotion.

Rewinding the clock 12 months is also useful in providing perspective in terms of talk of run-in nerves. Those in claret and amber would have given their right arm to be anywhere near their current position last March.

Dismissing notions of external pressure, Alexander, whose side welcome lowly Tranmere on Saturday, said: “The league has started to take shape and generally the focus is towards the top end, outside your club.

"For me, and I’m sure every player would rather be in this position than no pressure and no tension just ticking games off.

"I’ve spoken about the excitement of signing for Bradford and playing at Valley Parade. You can’t shy away from it when it’s right in front of you because it’s what you wanted.

"We want to be involved in these games at the top end of the table towards the end of the season so let’s go and enjoy it.”