Defeat 'tough to take' for Stuart McCall as Bradford City are dragged into the bottom two

The Bantams manager watched from the sidelines as Bradford were beaten 1-0 for the fifth time this season as Rhys Bennett's second-half header proved the only difference between the sides.

The result means the Bantams have not won in seven games, with their last victory coming against non-league Tonbridge Angels in the FA Cup.

After going into half time with the scores level, City were hopeful of getting something from the game but their failure to deal with a simple cross from former player Dean Furman gave Bennett an easy finish.

"I thought there was a lack of quality. Losing the goal was sickening really because it was a tight game," said McCall.

"We thought at half time it would be the next goal, like at Leyton Orient, but because of where we are in the table we aren't playing with a lot of confidence.

"Because of that we have got to batten the hatches down and fight and scrap for every point. It was tough to take."

McCall felt his side dealt well with Carlisle's threat from wide areas and lamented the lapse of concentration in defence that lead to Bradford's defeat.

City did have opportunities in the first half, one coming through Clayton Donaldson, whose shot looked to strike a hand on the way to goal but nothing was forthcoming from the referee.

Elliot Watt also had an effort cleared behind for a corner while Austin Samuels missed a good chance to open the scoring in the latter stages of the first half.

"That is our fifth 1-0 defeat now. It is an individual error," added McCall.

"People will make individual errors. Unfortunately, it is human nature. Before the game we knew of what a good run Carlisle were on.

"I saw them against Salford the other night and they should have won by more than they did. We contained the threats in the wide area. It wasn't a great spectacle early on.

"We have one kicked off the line, Clayton has nearly scored and Austin should score when Paudie [O'Connor] has headed it back to him. We have had opportunities but mostly from set plays, really."

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