Sean Scannell adamant Bradford City’s nightmare season can still have dream ending

The former Huddersfield Town winger – City’s marquee arrival last summer – made his return after six months out with a back injury in last weekend’s derby loss to Doncaster Rovers.

Scannell’s frustration has been compounded by City’s continued plight in the League One relegation zone in his absence in what has proved to be a nightmare 2018-19 for everyone connected with the club.

On whether it has been his most difficult spell in the game, Scannell, 28, said “Yes, it probably has.

“I have had a couple of injuries with my ankle and things like that and been out for a while.

“But it is not like I have done my hamstring or calf. I broke my back.

“I cannot just expect to go out there and run around like mad. I have got to be cautious, but I feel great and hopefully will get more minutes – and I can play a part in helping us stay up.

“I am too positive for anything like this to get me down. There is more to life than injuries.”

Rock-bottom Bantams have a mountain to climb with manager Gary Bowyer’s side being eight points adrift of safety with five games to go, but Scannell insists he and his team-mates are still clinging on to the hope of securing a remarkable escape.

Speaking ahead of tomorrow’s trip to Bristol Rovers, Scannell – part of the Terriers’ line-up who famously stayed up in the Championship in a dramatic finale to the 2012-13 season – said: “We want to prove everyone wrong. As players when we hear people saying, ‘we have gone’ then we do not even listen to them. We get one win at Bristol Rovers and that can change everything.

“For me it is possible. We can do it. I am not going to lie, I think we will stay up.”