Bradford City 1 Shrewsbury 2: Bantams certain that Jackson is the man to take them forward

Goalkeeper Jon McLaughlin believes he is speaking on behalf of all the players when he makes that assertion.

Former City captain Jackson is on a short-list of six for the job on a permanent basis but was unable to strengthen his credentials against promotion-chasing Shrewsbury Town.

His record since stepping into the breach following the departure of Peter Taylor reads two wins, two defeats and a draw but that does not tell the whole story, says former Harrogate Railway and Harrogate Town goalkeeper McLaughlin.

“He has brought a lot to the club so far. One of the main things that he has done is bring a massive amount of confidence and self-belief to all the players again. The entire squad are turning up every day really excited to train and looking forward to training and to match his enthusiasm and that is massively important.

“The lads really believe that they are good enough to win games and beat anyone that we play against. I think all the lads would say we are really happy with the new gaffer and I think I speak for every player in that team when I say that he is more than capable of leading us forward and taking us in the right direction.”

McLaughlin justified Jackson’s decision to keep him in the side despite the return to fitness of Lenny Pidgeley, producing quality saves in the first half as the Shrews threatened to over-power City.

They put sustained pressure on a reshuffled Bantams defence which had midfield man David Syers at right-back as Lewis Hunt moved across to centre-back to cover for injuries but there was no way past McLaughlin.

He highlighted the first 45 minutes by beating away a drive from Matt Harrold at his right-hand post before diving across to his left to smother the follow-up from Mark Wright.

“The gaffer has kept faith in me and I have tried as hard as I can to put in performances that are worthy of the shirt, worthy of me keeping my place and doing everything I can in aid of the cause,” said McLaughlin.

“We always knew that Shrewsbury would be really tough to beat. They are a team who are in great form, have a really talented side, play good football and are on a bit of a high at the moment, pushing for promotion.

“We knew we had to stop them from breaking us down and we tried to do that particularly in the first half when we did really well to take it in 0-0.

“It looked like it had paid off because when we took the lead it looked like we had done the job but, unfortunately, a moment of switching off cost us. Once they got the equaliser, a team as talented as them knew it was a massive incentive to go and get the winner and, unfortunately, they did that.”

City, with 18-year-old striker Darren Stephenson brought on for his debut, looked to have tamed the Shrews when Tom Adeyemi, restored to midfield in place of the suspended Jon Worthington, smashed the ball into the net from outside the area after Ben Smith had punched out a 67th-minute free-kick from halfway from Luke O’Brien.

Bradford were then in the ascendancy but a double substitution did the trick for the visitors, Wales Under-19 striker Tom Bradshaw brushing off Syers to race onto fellow substitute Lionel Ainsworth’s flick into the area to crack a drive into the roof of the net.

City complained about its validity, McLaughlin explaining: “We felt that it was a foul and the referee said to us that he felt it was a foul but that Dave Syers had fouled their player first so it was advantage that he was playing.

“Our argument was that one foul does not not then give that player the right to foul back to gain an advantage. It should have been a foul to Shrewsbury and not an advantage to play on so we were disappointed with that decision but the referee’s opinion is the one that matters.”

That equaliser came in the 77th minute and 10 minutes later, Bradshaw struck again from close range, racing on to a cut back from Jon Taylor, whose pace down the flanks only underlined what City have been missing this season.

Smith clawed away a cross-shot from James Hanson before Bradshaw, whose progress is being monitored by Premier League and Championship clubs, was denied a hat-trick in stoppage time when he chipped McLaughlin but Steve Williams cleared off the line.

City’s endeavours had ultimately been for nothing but McLaughlin stressed there will be no let-up until the end of the season.

“You can never assume you are safe until things are mathematically certain but one thing that we are not doing is looking at the relegation zone and the teams below us.

“We are looking forward and will be trying over the nine games that are left to put in fantastic performances for the gaffer and the fans to try and push ourselves up the league and not to try and stop us slipping down.

“We believe in ourselves and know that we have enough talent and ability in that changing room to get ourselves moving up the league. A club as big as this and considering the money that has been spent over the last few years should not be in this league. Any season when we are not challenging for promotion has got to be seen as a complete write-off, a waste of time, so it’s just a case now of trying to improve week on week and we need to set a foundation for next season.”

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Bradford City: City McLaughlin, Syers, Hunt, Williams, O’Brien; Evans, Flynn, Adeyemi, Dobie (Osborne 88); Hanson, Speight (Stephenson 60). Unused substitutes: Pidgeley, Bullock, Horne, Threlfall, Rowe.

Shrewsbury Town: Smith, Raven, Sharps, Cansdell-Sherriff, Sadler; Jon Taylor, Wroe, Davies, Wright (Ainsworth 75); Harrold, Collins (Bradshaw 75). Unused substitutes: C Neal, McIntyre, Goldson, Disley, Lomax.

Referee: P Quinn (Cleveland).