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Match Previews

Bradford City Preview - A look at our Yorkshire derby with the Bantams

3 February 2022



It's a Yorkshire derby this weekend with a bumper crowd expected at The Envirovent Stadium for the visit of Bradford City.


And Town will head into the game in good heart after a strong performance on Tuesday that earned a point at home to Mansfield, a display that Simon Weaver felt signalled a return to form.



Our opponents

The Bantams come into the fixture in 11th place on 37 points, three points above Town in the table.
They are the draw specialists in the division, with 13 of the 28 fixtures this season ending all-square, including their most recent encounter in midweek against Leyton Orient.

Saturday's opponents have suffered just one defeat in their past away fixtures away from home and came out on top last time out with a 2-1 win at Walsall.

Last season

The two sides are yet to meet this season as a result of the postponed Boxing Day clash at Valley Parade.
In 2020/21 Town grabbed a win early in the season in front of the Sky cameras thanks to a Lloyd Kerry goal with 15 minutes remaining.



And in the return fixture in mid-April a last minute strike from on-loan Josh McPake earned Town a famous double when it had looked to be heading for a draw after Andy Cook had cancelled out Jack Muldoon's first-half effort.



The man in charge

After going through two managerial teams in 2020/21 – Stuart McCall and latterly the duo of Mark Truman and Connor Sellars – City appointed Derek Adams in the summer.

Adams had guided Morecambe to promotion to League One via the playoffs and prior to his time in charge of the Shrimps he previously managed Ross County and Plymouth Argyle over the past decade, also making over 300 appearances for clubs such as Motherwell, Aberdeen, Ross County and Livingston.

Ones to watch

Upon his arrival Adams wasted no time in overhauling the squad, bringing in the likes of Lee Angol from Leyton Orient, Andy Cook from Mansfield, Alex Gilliead from Scunthorpe, Oscar Threlked from Salford and Yann Songo'o from his old club Morecambe.

And it's Cook who leads the scoring charts with 10 league goals this season, followed by Angol who has netted five times. Winger Charles Vernam has four goals and two assists to his name.

At the back Paudie O'Connor has been the standout performer and an ever present over the campaign.
In the January window the Bantams have added some key additions on loan, notably Dion Pereira from Luton, Matty Daly from Huddersfield, Tom Elliott from Salford and veteran Nathan Delfouneoso in a bid to climb the table.

Recent history

Bradford have spent much of their recent history in the top two divisions of English football, spending two seasons in the Premier League under Paul Jewell at the turn of the century, the first of which saw them pull off ‘The Great Escape' as the survived relegation on the final day by defeating Liverpool at Valley Parade.

However, consecutive relegations saw them tumble through the divisions in the mid-2000's and although they made a return to League One, they were relegated back to the bottom division following the 2018/19 season.

Team news

Town will again be without Ryan Fallowfield and Simon Power for the clash, while central defensive duo Rory McArdle and Lewis Richards are a doubt having been forced off on Tuesday night.

#ProudToBeTown 

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