Graham Alexander says in-form Bradford full of confidence after comeback win

Posted Saturday, December 23, 2023 by PA

Graham Alexander believes the full force of Bradford’s brimming confidence carried them through to a fourth straight league triumph after battling back to beat Doncaster.

The Bantams shook off the blow of falling behind to Joe Ironside’s early strike to coast to a 3-1 win at the Eco-Power Stadium, with Andy Cook scoring twice and Tyler Smith also finding the net.

And Alexander was delighted with the manner in which City, who have now won six games in all competitions, were unfazed by conceding.

“It was a difficult game – a derby game – and I was intrigued to see how we responded to conceding the first goal early on because we’ve been on a good run of starting games really well,” he said.

“I knew, at some point, we’d get a test like that and it happened tonight.

“But, after their goal, nothing changed in our approach to the game. No heads went down and we just got back at it again and put Doncaster under pressure.

“We had two great chances before our equalisers and I’m delighted to win 3-1. There will be many different challenges and obstacles along the way this season and that was one.

“The players are in a really confident mood and it’s great to see.”

Bradford were backed by a travelling support numbering almost 3,000 on the night.

“We went a goal down and the crowd got even louder. It makes you feel the hairs on the back of your neck and I’m delighted that the players rewarded that noise with three points,” Alexander said.

Doncaster boss Grant McCann has ordered his players to take a long hard look at themselves over Christmas to find a way out of their current mini-slump.

Rovers followed up the 5-0 defeat to Morecambe with the 3-1 reverse to Bradford with McCann bitterly disappointed with both performances.

He said: “We said to the players after the game that they need to have a look at themselves because what they’re showing at the minute is nowhere near.

“All of us together need to take responsibility. I’ve never shirked that as a manager. I’ll always do that because I’m the one that picks the team.

“But when you’ve got a plan that’s working and experienced players going away from that. The first goal just gives Bradford the initiative and it’s disappointing.

“The last two games have been really disappointing because it’s felt like we’ve gone backwards in those two games. There’s no point in saying anything different because the fans can see it.

“You saw at the end – there were probably 100 people left in the stadium. I said to Joe Ironside as we walked around ‘look at this’. This is what we’re producing at the minute and the fans are just disappearing because we’re not giving them anywhere near enough.”