Bradford City manager Graham Alexander wanted to slap Louie Sibley for promotion talk
Graham Alexander resisted the urge to give Louie Sibley a slap when the midfielder arrived at Bradford City talking about winning promotion.
After 24 games, the Bantams are third in League One, two points outside the automatic promotion spots with a game in hand from last weekend's postponement against Rotherham United.
Even so, manager Alexander was frustrated when Sibley – at 24, the most experienced of three January signings to date – spoke about going up, joking about giving him a slap.
“Our league position dictates that conversation," acknowledged Alexander. “I’d be disappointed if there wasn’t a conversation outside of here because we’ve been consistently up there.
“Louie’s a new player coming into the group so I haven’t spoken to him about it. I haven't slapped him, trust me!
“We do things in a certain way and it takes time to understand. Even though we were the one of the biggest clubs in League Two, if not the biggest, we never talked about that word (last season).
“We talked about the target right in front of us. The next game.
“Talking too far ahead is unnecessary and I believe distracting for players when you think about the tough game we have this Saturday (at home to Cardiff City), then the next one and the one after that.
“Sometimes people are trying to convince everyone else.
“Other people are saying we’ve got a good football team, a good squad and a brilliant support. That’s a good thing.”
Sibley and Newcastle United loanees Harrison Ashby and Joe White could be in contention to make debuts against Cardiff, with Nick Powell the only injured player not training this week.