BRADFORD City manager Graham Alexander says that Bobby Pointon is in ‘contention’ for his hometown club's crunch League One play-off semi-final second leg against Bolton Wanderers at a packed out Valley Parade on Thursday night.

The Low Moor-raised forward has missed City's last five matches and was not involved in the first leg in Lancashire in Saturday, despite making a phased return to training.

City head into the second leg with a 1-0 deficit to make up after being edged out at the Toughsheet Community Stadium.

On Pointon, not involved since the game with Stevenage on April 11, Alexander said: "Yes, he's in contention. 'Contention' is us seeing where he is physically right at the last minute and then actually understanding what the challenge is tomorrow and whether he can play a part in it or not.

Bobby Pointon. (Image: Jonathan Gawthorpe)

placeholder image — Bobby Pointon. (Image: Jonathan Gawthorpe)

"Because if I talked about the value of the squad and then picked a player who is 60 per cent fit, it's not good because they're professional footballers and they can all play.

"They could all start the game tomorrow and contribute to us winning it. So the biggest thing for me is, if I give the choice to Bobby right now, he'd say, 'yeah' (I'm available). But he'd have said that last week and probably the week before as well.

"So that's what we have to guard against. So, for me, we need to train today. We need to assess it this afternoon with the staff and make the best decision for the team, not for Bobby as an individual, but for the team and what we have to do over 90 minutes and potentially 120 minutes.

"So, we'll see how today goes. There's a couple of players in that boat that we're waiting on. So, fingers crossed."

Bradford City's Tyreik Wright. Picture: Jonathan Gawthorpe

Alexander says that Tyreik Wright, who made his return from the bench at the weekend - after being previously sidelined with a side strain since March 21 - is continuing to be monitored.

Asked about his chances of potentially starting or again being used as a substitute on Thursday, the Bantams chief continued: "He's in a better position than he was last week.

"And similar to Bobby, really, I think if we'd have given him the choice, I think in the Exeter City game (last match of regular season), he might have put himself forward.

"But I just felt that it was too much of a risk. And then he'd have had no game exposure and obviously he had, I'm not sure, 30 minutes maybe the other.

"And it's not necessarily the minutes. The minutes is just like a number. It's the actual data that he (Wright) outputs in those minutes. And believe me, he ran further than a normal player would run in 30 minutes (at Bolton).

"So, it's that, really. It's the high-speed running, it's the sprints, all that sort of thing, which puts pressure through the body. So I'm led by players as well.

"So it's a collaboration between myself, the medical team and the player. But the beauty of Bobby and Tyreik is they've both been under us for a long time. They know what's expected of them.

"They don't want to let anyone down. So, it's a similar situation, really. He's obviously involved now, but it's another one where I have to make a decision whether we see him as a potential starter or not quite there yet to play a full game.

"Because we do have to take into consideration it could be a longer game than normal. So, that adds another little dimension to the decision-making process."