Graham Alexander says Bradford City did not deserve 'horrible hit' against Reading
Graham Alexander said his Bradford City players did not deserve the “horrible hit” they took in the dying embers against Reading.
Bradford were on course for a 1-0 victory on the road when the Royals levelled proceedings in the 90th minute.
It then went from bad to worse when Matt Ritchie struck in the seventh minute of stoppage time to give the Royals a dramatic 2-1 victory.
Post-match, a devastated Alexander insisted his side did not deserve the late sucker-punches.
Graham Alexander’s verdict
He said: “What happened at the end can happen in any game. You can play so well for 89 minutes and then things like that can go against you.
“It’s the type of game that we have seen out so many times before. It was a horrible hit, we didn’t deserve that. But that’s what life is, sometimes it’s cruel. It’s a real sting.
“But what defines you is not the action, it’s your reaction. And I think that we’ll be defined by our reaction to this.”
Matthew Pennington had put the Bantams ahead and Paddy Lane was the scorer of the goal that cancelled it out. Experienced wideman Ritchie nodded home the winner, breaking Bradford hearts.
Alexander said: “It can knock the stuffing out of you but then you see what you really are. There’s bits about their goals that we can do better with, as a whole team from front to back.
“But, for me, it was the best away performance that we’ve had this season, even better than at Cardiff (a 3-1 win) – not as a result, obviously, but as a performance.
“The way that we passed the ball was superb, we looked like the home team, to be honest.
“We should win the game, I’m just devastated for the players. They deserve better than that, I thought that we were different class. We’ll just have to look at what we can improve on in those last minutes.”
Bradford sit fourth in the League One table, 13 points adrift of second-placed Lincoln City.