Morecambe 0 Bradford City 1: Jackson lays down marker as Hanson heads way for City

Jackson’s side put in a battling performance to beat the Shrimps who started the day level on points with the Bantams.

After claiming his second win in three games at the helm, Jackson said: “I am desperate for this job I think everyone knows that. I have been out for the game for 17 months and this is a dream job for any manager.

“I was brought in to calm the ship and the two wins have done that. We are moving up the table and have opened the gap between us and the wrong end of the table. We have two home games coming up now and if we can get some thing from those we will certainly be heading in the right direction.’

“The team have given me everything so far and I suppose in many ways the job is mine to lose now but I can’t ask for any more than I am getting at the moment.

“It wasn’t as entertaining a game as the one against Rotherham in midweek and I know that we can play a lot better than we did in this game but we showed a great deal of determination and I am delighted with the three points.

James Hanson was the Bantams’ goal hero with a header on 32 minutes after a Morecambe clearance rebounded neatly into his path.

Bradford, who had earlier been denied by some excellent saves from Joe Anyon, should have extended their lead five minutes into stoppage time when Kevin Ellison won a penalty after being brought down by Andy Parrish but Gareth Evans saw his spot-kick saved by Anyon.

Morecambe’s best effort came after just 19 seconds when Kevan Hurst rounded Jon McLaughlin but took the ball too far and could only hit the side-netting.

Morecambe: Anyon; Parrish, McCready, Charnock, Wilson; Hunter (Shuker 66), Fleming, Drummond, Hurst; Spencer (Jevons 68), Carlton (Brown 86). Unused substitutes: Walker (GK), Wainwright, Capaldi, Holdsworth.

Bradford City: McLaughlin; O’Brien, Oliver, Williams, Hunt; Flynn, Worthington, Evans, Speight; Dobie (rep Ellison 64), Hanson. Unused substitutes: Saxton, Threlfall, Osborne, Adeyemi, Bullock, Syers.

Referee: N Miller (Co Durham).

Man of the match: Michael Flynn.