MANAGER Graham Alexander was proud of his players as injury-hit Bradford City maintained their unbeaten home record with a goalless draw against fourth placed Wimbledon.

Alexander was without four central defenders missing through injury before the game and lost another in Lewis Richards at half-time before his replacement Jay Adams also went off injured 18 minutes into the second half.

It left him full of praise for two of his young loan players Jack Shepherd and Chieeck Diabate, describing them as "superb" at the heart of the City defence.'

"It was a really tough game," he said, "And I thought the players defended well against them apart from the shot that hit the post.

Graham Alexander, Bradford City manager (Picture: Bruce Rollinson)

"We are down to the bare bones and that makes me proud of the players. We are missing five or six players and credit to the other players for stepping up. That was a really strong point.

“Physically, it was a real tough game for us. I thought the players were excellent with how they defended against it.”

In a game of few chances Wimbledon came nearest to scoring in the second half when Myles Hippolyte saw his shot hit the post, run along the line and bounce against the other post but somehow stayed out while Joe Pigott headed on top of the bar.

Bradford’s best efforts came from Diabate and captain Richie Smallwood, who forced Owen Goodman into diving saves.

Bradford City: Walker, Halliday, Diabate, Shepherd, Richards (Adams 45, Oduor 63), Wright, Pointon, Smallwood, Pattison, Cook, Sanderson (Oliver 64). Unused substitutes: Doyle (gk), Kavanagh, Benn, Wadsworth.

AFC Wimbledon: Goodman, Tilley (Furlong 81), Bugiel, Neufville, Smith, Stevens (Pigott 70), Ball (Maycock 70), Hippolyte, Harbottle, Lewis, Ogundere. Unused substitutes: Ward (gk), Biler, O-Toole, Kelly.

Referee: Andy Davies

Graham Alexander's pride as injury-hit Bradford City maintain home record against AFC Wimbledon