MICHAEL Duff has expressed sympathy for Bradford City captain Antoni Sarcevic, whose second-half dismissal compounded the proverbial 'bad day at the office' against Huddersfield Town last weekend.

Sarcevic received his marching orders for a second yellow card midway through the second half against Town after pulling back Ilias Bronkhorst.

The experienced midfielder will serve a one-match ban and miss Saturday's FA Cup first-round tie with non-league Marine.

Duff said: "It's a squad game. You're not going to pick the same XI every week. With the Sarce incident, it's not Sarce's fault.

Bradford City captain Antoni Sarcevic, who was dismissed against Huddersfield Town. Photo: Tony Johnson.

placeholder image — Bradford City captain Antoni Sarcevic, who was dismissed against Huddersfield Town. Photo: Tony Johnson.

"That's the one bit I didn't like. I didn't like the fact they played a one-two and played around four of our players in one pass, which has been unlike us.

"And then obviously Sarce has clattered into him. So it's how we deal with it."

Sarcevic's booking count at league level will stand at four when City return to league action.

The Bantams' scheduled League One trip to Leicester City – scheduled for Saturday, November 14 – has been postponed due to international call-ups for the home side.

Bradford City manager Michael Duff, whose side faced former club Huddersfield Town last Saturday. Picture courtesy of BCAFC.

It means that City's next league game will be against Doncaster Rovers on November 21 – the second instalment of a triple header of Yorkshire derbies at league level at Valley Parade.

After facing Rovers, Michael Duff’s side will welcome his former club Barnsley on Tuesday, November 24.

Duff admits that he and his players are challenged to get back onside with supporters following a painful derby day against Town, but he is also quick to point out that there were 'mitigating circumstances' to factor into the 3-0 reverse.

"I don't want to sound like I'm defending the players," Duff commented.

"We've been beaten 3-0 by our local rivals. So we know that. We know the supporters went home angry.

"But I think there are mitigating circumstances involved. So it's not us accepting it. Hopefully, they watched the same first half as what the staff did.

"It was a good game in the first half. It was a proper local derby. And then it's just circumstances that killed it.

"There are individual errors. But there are certain things that we shouldn't be doing - like taking a short corner in the first place.

"So they're things that we need to learn from as well.

"The killer is against your local rivals. That's the bit that hurts."

As it stands, the Leicester postponement means that City are set for a run of six successive fixtures at BD8, which started with last weekend’s EFL Cup victory over Peterborough United – with the derby with Town following on.

The Bantams host Marine in the cup on Saturday and host York City in an EFL Trophy group game next Tuesday – ahead of the meetings with Rovers and the Reds.

Bradford’s next scheduled away fixture will be at Wycombe Wanderers on November 28.