Hanson wants City to give fans value for money at Wembley

JAMES HANSON says Bradford City have got “unfinished business” with Wembley.

The Bantams booked their second trip of the season to the national stadium with a play-off semi-final aggregate win over Burton Albion.

Hanson, who scored one of City’s goals in Sunday’s 3-1 win at the Pirelli Stadium, was in the team beaten 5-0 by Swansea City in the Capital One Cup final when the Premier League team outplayed the Yorkshire outfit.

Getting to one of English football’s showpiece occasions was a huge achievement.

But the Bantams striker insists the manner of that defeat has left Phil Parkinson’s squad determined to make amends in the League Two play-off final with Northampton Town on May 18.

Hanson said: “For the players, it was unbelievable to play in an atmosphere like there was at the League Cup final. But, at the same time, it wasn’t as enjoyable as it should have been.

“We didn’t get much of the ball as Swansea were so good.

“Hopefully, this time we can have a right good go and get this club promotion. We will be going for it full throttle.

“Getting to the League Cup final was good, but this is all about achieving our aim for the season. It has been a long 10 months, but we are ready for the final push.

“We were running round the track in pre-season and this is what we worked for – promotion.”

City’s second Wembley date in less than three months came despite the Yorkshire outfit losing the first leg at Valley Parade 3-2.

Burton’s victory was well deserved to leave Gary Rowett’s team as strong favourites going into Sunday’s return.

Nahki Wells began the Bradford fightback with an opportunistic goal in the first half after latching on to a defensive mistake by the Brewers.

Hanson then made it 2-0 on the day and 4-3 on aggregate with a stunning right-foot finish early in the second half. Burton did level the tie with a penalty, but Wells clinched City’s place at Wembley by latching on to Hanson’s knockdown to force the ball over the line just before the hour.

Afterwards, manager Parkinson described Hanson and Wells as “practically unplayable”.

Hanson said: “I always had faith we could do it, even after we lost at Valley Parade. At Burton, the gaffer told me to stay up the pitch to try and give them a different problem by helping Nahki get in behind them. It worked well.”

On his own strike, Hanson added: “What a time to get my 50th career goal. To be fair, I should have got another as well. I probably had too much time.

“But the main thing is we made it through to the final. That is the only thing that matters.

“We knew Burton had a great record at home and in the first leg we didn’t do ourselves justice.

“The fans were brilliant and I am sure if we can repeat that standard of performance in the final then it should be enough.

“It is something for us all to look forward to. I am sure the fans are the same. They spent a lot of money for the League Cup and we didn’t really give them a lot to cheer about.

“This time, we are determined to do that. We want to get them a couple of goals and give them a celebration like the one after the second leg at Burton.”

City have been handed an allocation of 39,000 tickets for their return to Wembley – six thousand more than they received for the Capital One Cup final in February.

Season-ticket and FlexiCard holders can purchase tickets through Ticketzone from 9am this morning until 7pm on Thursday, with Bradford fans allocated the west end of the stadium.

Category 1 tickets are priced £60. Others are priced £48 (Category 2), £38 (Category 3), £32 (Category 4) and £26 (Category 5).

Half-price concessions are available for accompanied children aged 16 and under and senior citizens.

The online service can be accessed by logging onto City’s official website or calling 08444 777 774.

General sales will commence on 9am on Friday, with fans able to purchase up to six tickets through Ticketzone.

Tickets will remain on sale until stocks last or until noon on Wednesday, May 15.