Bradford City stay in touch at the top with 'valuable' point at Accrington Stanley
BRADFORD CITY boss Graham Alexander says point gained from his team’s 0-0 draw at Accrington Stanley may prove valuable at the end of the season.
The second-placed Bantams had to settle for a point in a Sky Bet League Two game of few clear chances.
There was only one shot on target throughout the entire 90 minutes, one which was a simple catch for Bradford goalkeeper Sam Walker from Stanley captain Seamus Conneely.
Alexander made a quadruple substitution just after the break and they immediately forced a succession of corners, with one of the substitutes, Alex Pattison, who scored the winning goal against Stanley in the reverse match, having a shot deflected wide and another one off target.
The game got increasingly heated but the sides had to settle for a share the spoils, with Bradford not having a shot on target in the match.
No damage was done to their title hopes, though, with leaders Walsall also having to settle for a point in a 1-1 draw at home to fifth-placed AFC Wimbledon.
Alexander said: “It’s a fair point over the game. I don’t think either team did enough to win the game outright.
“We are a bit frustrated that we didn’t have better quality in the attacking phases of the game.
“We didn’t create enough against a defensively strong team and no one really stamped their authority on the game.
“We had a good chance through Patto but he knocked it wide and those are the moments we have to make go our way but, if we don’t do that, we have to stay strong, take a point and go into the next game.
“Only time will tell how valuable individual points are but the draws we have had have contributed to where we are now.
“There are no easy games, especially when you get down to the last few furlongs and the finishing line is clear in everyone’s eyes.”
Accrington Stanley: Crellin, Matthews, Rawson, Ward, Love, Conneely (Grant 77), B Woods, Batty, O'Brien-Whitmarsh (Henderson 76), Mooney (Brown 90), Josh Woods (Caton 78). Unused substitutes: Kelly, Coyle, Quirk.
Bradford City: S Walker, Byrne, Baldwin, Crichlow-Noble (Kelly 58), Halliday, Khela (Pattison 57), Smallwood, Adaramola (Pointon 57), Lapslie (J Walker 57), Wright, Kavanagh (Mellon 85). Unused substitutes: Hilton, Huntington.
Referee: Neil Hair (Cambridgeshire).