Return to Wembley dream fading fast for Bradford City

BRADFORD CITY manager Stuart McCall admits the target of a return to Wembley for the League One play-off final feels 'a million miles away' as the fallout continues from the club's worst run in seven years.
Stuart McCall: Issuing instruction to City players at 
Rotherham.  Picture: Bruce RollinsonStuart McCall: Issuing instruction to City players at 
Rotherham.  Picture: Bruce Rollinson
Stuart McCall: Issuing instruction to City players at Rotherham. Picture: Bruce Rollinson

The Bantams were hauled in for extra training yesterday after slumping to a fourth straight defeat the previous evening at Rotherham United.

City remain in the top six but an advantage over the chasing pack that stood at eight points on New Year’s Day has been slashed to just two.

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Seventh-placed Charlton Athletic also have a game in hand on the Valley Parade club.

“This is the toughest spell we have been through since I have been here,” said McCall, whose side have now matched the four-game losing run suffered by Peter Taylor’s City early in 2011.

“We have never had anything like this before. It is easy to play when things are going well but this is a time to dig deep.

“Whatever the weather – be it rain, snow or wind – my drive every morning is to get to Wembley.

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“At the moment, that looks a million miles away because of the run we are on. But that should be the players’ goal.

“Second half, if you have got that aim in you, you have got to show it. That looked like a team in mid-table who had nothing to play for. It wasn’t acceptable.

“In fairness, the players have done really well to get to where we are with 48 points. But that could be undone.”

The supporters who followed City down the M1 on Tuesday night made their feelings known as Rotherham cruised to a victory that could have been more emphatic.

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Chants of ‘sign some players’ and ‘spend some money’ were aimed at the Bantams board as the clock ticks down towards the closing of the transfer window next week.

Only Callum Guy, the Derby County midfielder, has been added to a squad that has been ravaged by injury in recent weeks.

Loanee Guy, in fact, had to fill in at right-back at the New York Stadium, where teenager Tyrell Robinson suffered a hamstring injury, meaning City had to play the closing stages with just 10 men.

Even before losing Robinson, McCall had spoken in Tuesday’s The Yorkshire Post about the need to bring in “three or four” new faces amid continuing interest in Tony McMahon, Bradford’s longest-serving player, from Scunthorpe United.

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City were last night closing in on right-back Ryan McGowan, an Australian international with UAE side Al-Sharjah.

A bid is still on the table for Blackpool right-back Kelvin Mellor but Bradford missed out on Ipswich striker Kieffer Moore.

Other offers are understood to have been made but, as yet, there have been precious few signs of progress. With City last summer losing five members of the starting XI beaten by Millwall in May’s play-off final, concerns are growing that the current squad is too thin to capitalise on what remains a hugely promising position with 17 games remaining.

“It is a tough period right now,” added McCall, in his second spell as manager at Valley Parade. “I am also realistic to know that, sooner or later, you have got to come out of it.

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“When you do, you can look forward. I do believe that in a couple of weeks we will be stronger. We will have two or three players back and definitely two or three more in the building. That is what, hopefully, will get us going again.

“We need strengthening, everyone knows that. Callum, a central midfielder, had to play at full-back – and Tyrell said on Monday he felt tired because he has played a lot of football.”

Pressed on the need for signings, McCall refused to hide behind the lack of additions as being a factor in why Bradford performed so poorly against Rotherham.

“No excuses,” said the City chief, who last night was given the “100 per cent” backing of the board in an official statement calling for togetherness. “Regardless of what is happening elsewhere, we have got to be better than we were. There are no excuses from myself or the players.

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“We have got to put in a far better performance. We need leadership and character on and off the park – and we need it quickly.

“I pride myself as a manager that, since I have been here and regardless of what I have got to work with, we will get the best out of them (the players). That is certainly not happening at the minute.

“We are on a poor run and we have got to get out of it as quick as we can. Saturday (at home to AFC Wimbledon) is a huge game now. We have got to find a way to win and rebuild confidence again.

“There are two ways to get a lift. Yes, we can bring fresh faces in. Or, we put in a performance and get a win. That is something we need to do now because, otherwise, the pressure will build more – and especially if we keep putting in second-half performances like the one against Rotherham.”