Bradford City v Carlisle United - Gary Bowyer demands Bantams learn from mistakes

Bradford City manager Gary Bowyer has told his players that they can’t afford to feel sorry for themselves if they are to right the wrongs of their midweek defeat at Cheltenham when Carlisle United visit Valley Parade.
Bradford's manager Gary Bowyer.Bradford's manager Gary Bowyer.
Bradford's manager Gary Bowyer.

Having taken the lead, the Bantams looked to be on their way to a third consecutive League Two victory on Tuesday night, only to end up empty-handed after conceding three times in the space of 21 second-half minutes.

“They were a little bit deflated, but it’s gone. We said that in the dressing room as soon as the game was over,” Bowyer revealed.

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“It’s no good feeling sorry for ourselves. Let’s learn from what happened on Tuesday night and try and put it right on Saturday. The beauty of Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday is obviously you’ve got the opportunity very quickly.

“Somebody had made me aware of it being the best start defensively for 25 years prior to that game.

“At half-time you’re 0-0 as well, to then concede three, score two away from home and leave without anything was the disappointing thing, but lessons learned, we’ve spoken about it and we move on now and try and put it right.

“Ultimately, the players have to take the responsibility. We’ve gone through it and and that’s part of the learning processes, identifying, working on it and then actually seeing it in evidence.”

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Defeat dropped the Bantams down to ninth in the League Two standings and out of the play-off places, though the one positive from Tuesday’s 3-2 loss was that they came through unscathed on the injury front.

“From the other night, there are no injuries,” Bowyer added.

“Jordan Gibson is still missing. Joe Riley is still missing. Jake Reeves joined in with the warm-up this week with us, so that was a step in the right direction but there’s no time-scale on that.

“Jamie Devitt had his operation on Saturday, everything went well with that. Obviously he is a Blackpool player, so he’ll be with them, then later on as he’s nearing full-fitness he’ll be with us.”

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The last time City faced-off with Carlisle they lost out 1-0, away from home, in February 2014.

The previous meeting to that took place at Valley Parade earlier in the same season, with Bradford cruising to a 4-0 triumph.