Bradford boss Mark Hughes effusive in his praise for in-form striker Andy Cook

Posted Wednesday, September 14, 2022 by PA

Bradford boss Mark Hughes hailed star striker Andy Cook after his double downed Tranmere 2-1.

On-song Cook hit his eighth and ninth goals of the season as he condemned his former club to defeat at Prenton Park.

Former Manchester City manager Hughes said: “Andy Cook will obviously get the headlines again for his goals, but he should get a mention for his general play as well.

“He put a real shift in up there and didn’t get a lot of help from the officials.

“He had the shirt ripped off his back as well, but he was still a threat all evening.

“When the ball gets put in as well as it was it was a great header and a great goal to win it for us.

“You’ve just got to put the ball in good areas for Andy because he’s really difficult to knock off his line.

“Because of the physicality he’s got it’s difficult to do that as a defender. All he sees is the ball and the net.”

Victory extended the Bantams’ unbeaten run to four games.

And on the result, Hughes added: “It was nothing less than we deserved over the course of the game.

“It was really important that we came here and stood up to the challenge.

“We got off to a great start, but I thought we were a little bit careless at times.

“I thought we dealt with whatever they had quite well. Conceding the goal like we did was unfortunate, but we showed a good response and came back really strongly.”

Kane Hemmings scored an emotional goal, his first since the opening day, which he dedicated to a close family friend.

Tranmere had a section of a stand blocked off for 135 shirts, which symbolised the number of people who die from suicide in the 90 minutes it takes to play a game.

Rovers boss Micky Mellon lamented his defenders after Cook won the game, and said: “It’s a sore one for us. They have to understand that they need to defend better.

“To give away a goal like that when we’ve got three centre-backs, a cross comes into the box, is difficult to understand.

“It’s going to be difficult to get results if you don’t deal with that, that’s why we had three centre-backs in the box.

“We’ve spoken to them about the set plays and the rest of it. They’ve got to do their jobs haven’t they.

“It’s a really disappointing goal to give away. You have to do your jobs when they come along and we got punished.

“You can’t look for excuses. It’s about doing the right things to give yourselves the chance to win games. If you don’t do the right things then you’re going to make it difficult for yourselves.”