Dickson forced to wait for tilt at first City win

Which is why left-back Ryan Dickson was more frustrated than most that the bad weather put paid to Bradford City’s scheduled game at Port Vale this afternoon.

Dickson, 26, joined the Bantams last Friday from Southampton and debuted 24 hours later in the home League defeat against Oxford.

He was also in the team that was beaten 4-1 by Crewe in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy Northern Area semi-final on Tuesday night.

Despite having yet to taste victory for a side that in three days will attempt to seal a historic place in the League Cup final by holding onto their lead against Premier League Aston Villa, Dickson believes re-establishing their position in the League Two promotion picture is well within their capabilities.

“They’ve got a good team spirit here, they’re not getting too carried away with all the excitement going on around them,” said Dickson, who has joined a team that has not won in the League for four matches.

“With games coming thick and fast it doesn’t allow you to get carried away. You’re going to have a dip in form at some point of the season, and that can take its toll, but they’ve got squad depth here and quality, and they’re an honest bunch.”

Dickson knows what it takes to win promotion.

“I won this League with Brentford, and moved on to Southampton and won promotion with them after that”, he said. “It’s a league full of hard workers. You need to be well organised and a lot of games are going to be battles.

“You come across direct, hard-working, honest footballers. If you add a bit of quality you can be consistent.”

Dickson will be out of contract in the summer. Given how badly manager Nigel Adkins has been treated by the Saints board in the last 24 hours, Dickson does not paint a happy picture of life on the south coast.

“I got the opportunity to join Bradford and jumped at the chance,” he said. “I haven’t played as much as I’d have liked and I need games.”