Bradford City sign Birmingham striker Alex Jones to boost forward line

The 22-year-old has signed a two-and-a-half year deal with the Bantams after joining for an undisclosed fee.

Jones spent the first half of the season on loan at Port Vale and netted 10 goals. He will go straight into the squad to face Chesterfield tomorrow.

The arrival of a new striker is timely, with manager Stuart McCall having this week seen loan duo Haris Vuckic and Marc McNulty recalled by Newcastle and Sheffield United respectively.

With Billy Clarke and Filipe Morais also out injured, City had just James Hanson and Jordy Hiwula available before last night’s move for Jones.

McCall is understood to want to bring in one more attacker, preferably someone who can also play out wide.

But the arrival of Jones is a big boost for Bradford’s play-off aspirations. It is also a statement of intent from the owners, who have seen their side struggle in front of goal for much of this season.

A goal tally of 31 from 25 games is the lowest of the top 11 in League One, which is why McCall was so keen on freshening things up even before the departure of Vuckic and McNulty.

Neither had made much of an impact, and with goals being such a problem the Bantams chief knew changes had to be made.

McCall said: “Haris was brought in as a wideman/No 10 and obviously Nults has gone back. That left us with ‘Hans’ and Jordy because Billy’s injured so we needed to bring in a couple of attacking options. One was a wideman/forward and then an out-and-out forward.”

Jones could go straight into the side to face the Spireites as Bradford look to build on last Monday’s win at Northampton Town.

After a run of four consecutive draws, City needed a lift and it came via a second-half fightback.

On the challenge of taking on Danny Wilson’s struggling side, McCall added: “I saw them at Port Vale last Friday and first half they were the far better side, probably unfortunate to lose the game.

“I watched the game against MK Dons and they were resolute against a good side. They are fighting for their lives.”