Bradford City v Stockport County passes evening pitch inspection

With heavy rain in West Yorkshire on Friday, the evening kick-off at home to Stockport County was in doubt until referee Lewis Smith took a look at the pitch at 6.15pm.

But he was happy with what he saw, which will have come as a relief to those Stockport supporters who had or were crossing the Pennines for the match.

Bradford will also have wanted the game to go ahead as they are in good form to face the team who will end 2023 as the league leaders irrespective of what happens in their final games. The Bantams are unbeaten in seven matches and although the last of them, the Boxing Day encounter with Morecambe, was the first match in the sequence where they dropped points, showing the character to come from 2-0 down to claim a 2-2 draw made it a creditable afternoon.