'Disrupted us' - Bradford City boss Graham Alexander makes pre-season admission as new signing hailed
Graham Alexander has reflected on Bradford City’s early pre-season work
Graham Alexander has conceded injuries have “disrupted” Bradford City’s pre-season preparations - but believes the Bantams are in a good place regardless.
Bradford are three friendlies into their pre-season campaign having visited FC United of Manchester, FC Halifax Town and Accrington Stanley.
They were beaten 1-0 by the latter last night (July 17) and there were some notable absences at the Wham Stadium.
Midfield recruit Adam Phillips was missing through injury, as was defender Joe Wright after getting poked in the eye. Aden Baldwin is on the comeback trail, but the defender did not feature in the friendly run-out.
Bradford City’s injury disruption
Alexander told Bradford’s media team: “Up to now the players have been getting 45 minutes; the game against Accrington was the first 60. We will step it up over the next couple of games as we progress to get as many players ready for the start of the season as possible.
“We have had some injuries which disrupted us slightly, but the game against Accrington was very good for us physically, and we will continue working on our in-possession game.”
Praise for recent Bradford City recruit
Alexander may not have a fully-fit squad to assess but has been able to get a good look at some of his new signings.
Recent recruit Macaulay Gillesphey, who arrived from Charlton Athletic at the beginning of the month, produced an assured display in the heart of defence against Accrington.
Alexander said: “On the switch, Macaulay did it really well in the second half with his diagonal balls and some of his penetrative passing was excellent.”
Bradford City in a ‘good place’
Few pre-season campaigns run completely smoothly and Alexander will not be overly concerned by the handful of injury issues he has had to contend with. On the whole, the Bantams boss believes his side are in a “good place”.
He said: “There are areas we can definitely improve on. We had some really good opportunities, especially in the first half before they scored; we should have taken the lead on two or three occasions.
“We need to understand how important the individual battles are; we know how well Accrington Stanley compete, so it was a good exercise for us in and out of possession.
“It was a good workout, and I am reasonably happy with where we are in the progression of the physical side. We are pressing well and just need to sharpen the attacking intent.
“We got into some really good areas though and got some good deliveries into the box. We turned the ball over in good areas and overloaded well. It is a process we are going through, and we are in a good place.”