Crewe Alexandra 0 Bradford City 0: Parkinson praises his defence in stalemate

And the major plus for boss Phil Parkinson from a goalless afternoon at Gresty Road was a first clean sheet for a month.

“It was a very, very difficult day to play football,” said Parkinson of the strong wind and heavy rain. “When we got to the ground we knew we would need a grinding mentality

“I thought the back four and Jon McLaughlin were superb.

“It was important for them to get a clean sheet because we haven’t had one for a while and we needed to get back on the clean sheet trail.”

Rory McArdle was the pick of the back four with an assured display while McLaughlin earned his corn with a couple of top-class saves.

He managed to beat away a well-struck first-half shot from George Evans and dived full length to deny Harry Davis on the hour.

Unfortunately for City they were unable to take any of the chances they created at the other end of the field.

Three times in the first half Nahki Wells – in his first start for a month – was unable to hit the target when well placed and James Hanson fired wide early in the second half before twice being denied by goalkeeper Alan Martin.

“We just lacked that moment of quality in the final third to win us the game,” said Parkinson. “We had opportunities in and around the box but could not quite find that bit of extra composure needed.”

Crewe Alexandra: Martin; Mellor, Dugdale, Oliver (Osman 88), Davis; Moore, Aneke, Evans, Grant; Clayton (Inman 75), Guthrie. Unused substitutes: Garratt, Ellis, Leitch-Smith, Ray, Molyneux.

Bradford City: McLaughlin; Darby, Meredith, McArdle, Bates; Jones, Doyle, Reid (Yeates 86), De Vita (Thompson 70); Wells, Hanson (Folan 90). Unused substitutes: Ripley, Kennedy, Taylor, McHugh.

Referee: J Simpson (Lancashire).

Man of the match: Jon McLaughlin.