Mark Hughes hails Bradford display as they end Sutton’s long unbeaten home run - 7M sport

Mark Hughes hails Bradford display as they end Sutton’s long unbeaten home run



Posted Sunday, May 01, 2022 by PA

Mark Hughes hails Bradford display as they end Sutton’s long unbeaten home run

Bradford boss Mark Hughes was full of praise for his side after they registered a fine 4-1 win at play-off hopefuls Sutton.

Charles Vernam scored twice and Yann Songo’o and Andy Cook were also on the scoresheet as the Bantams ended the hosts’ 19-game unbeaten home run.

Alistair Smith bagged an early second-half equaliser but Hughes’ impressive side scored three goals in under half an hour to put the contest out of reach.

Hughes said: “We took the game away from them very, very quickly.

“The players really understood what was required. We came up against a team who play very direct, from back to front.

“But I thought we defended really, really strongly – and I thought we did that really well right throughout the game.

“In the first half we were able to get on the ball a little bit more but clearly they [Sutton] changed things around a bit and had a little bit more joy. We came under a little bit more pressure and they get a goal.

“That can happen against teams like Sutton, who shape up how they do.

“But they were trying to get into the play-offs and in people’s eyes we were coming here with nothing to play for.

“But from our point of view, we want to finish the season really strongly.

“It’s great to see the progress, I was really pleased with what we produced.”

Hughes made a string of second-half substitutions which he thought were key.

He added: “We needed to make a change and, once we did, I thought we got the control back I was looking for.

“I want to make sure we finish the season in fine fettle and give a taste of what we’re looking to do next year.”

Deflated Sutton boss Matt Gray admitted: “I didn’t see that one coming.

“We had a great chance and hit the post early and had a couple of long-range efforts – and then they scored.

“I thought they had a good spell when they scored and I felt we were a little under pressure.

“The first half petered out a bit but I thought the second half was excellent. I thought we were really on the front foot and looked like the most likely to score.

“But we found ourselves 2-1 down after an injury, then it was 3-1 down when we were down to 10 men and then they scored.

“Four-one is a flattering scoreline so it’s a hard one to take.

“We’ve had an unbelievable unbeaten home run. We’ve been excellent but unfortunately we’ve just lost the game.

“But we’ve got to play Harrogate in our last match and it [the play-offs] is still all to play for. Anything can happen on the last day of the season.”

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