Bradford City captain Richie Smallwood on 'letting team-mates down', a League 2 promotion admission and whether his approach will change

Smallwood copped a three-match ban for a reckless challenge on Paul Glatzel in the game at the County Ground when City were in control and leading 2-0.

In an incredible afternoon in Wiltshire, Swindon hit back against 10-man City and went onto win 5-4 in a crazy match.

Smallwood was missed in the games against Notts County, Chesterfield and Doncaster Rovers, but is back for the huge game against Fleetwood on Saturday where the hosts need to win to secure promotion.

But the midfielder, promoted three times in his career and recently in the division’s team of the season, insists his combative approach won’t change.

He said: “I’ve thought about it numerous times and I’m pretty sure if there’s a 50/50 on Saturday, I’m not going to back out of it.

"You’ve seen me do those tackles numerous time over the past three years and it’s not even been given a foul.

"It was unfortunate that it was given a red. I totally understand the decision.

"I’ve won the ball, yes I did catch him and I understand why the referee acted why he did.

"But I just see it as a strong challenge. I don’t think it would be right with how I’ve grown up and played the game and how combative I try to be to jump out the way of the next 50/50.

"I don’t see how that’s right but I quickly moved on from it. I tried to not think about it as much as I could from the moment it happened.

"You can’t change the decision. I was really disappointed and obviously things could have been a lot different with us being 2-0 up so early in the game.

"We might not be sat here now with this occasion. But it’s gone and you’ve got to move on.

"I’ve tried to help in all the other ways that I could off the field.”

On whether he let he let the club down, he added: “I felt like I let the team and the club down in that moment. Whether I thought it was a red card or not, the referee reacted how he did and I let my teammates down.

"I believe it did cost us the result and the results in the other games.

"I believe I would have been able to help the team in the goals that we’ve conceded, not just through quality but the positioning that I would have been in when the goals have been scored from certain areas.

“I fully believe that if I didn’t get sent off, we would be already promoted.

"But we’ve still got a big game to play and thankfully it’s still in our hands.”