Graham Alexander believes that his Bradford City side need to “be us”, as they welcome Yorskhire rivals Doncaster Rovers to Valley Parade.
Bradford City have been enjoying a fantastic return to League One this season, currently sat 5th place in the table, but alarm bells appear to be ringing amongst City supporters.
The Bantams are currently experiencing their worst run of form of the season, losing their last 3 games in a row, to promotion rivals Cardiff City, Huddersfield Town and Lincoln City.
A good way to get back on track is to play host to a side currently sat in the relegation zone, but Doncaster Rovers will be a far from easy test for Bradford.
Doncaster have had Bradford’s number over the last 2 seasons, winning all of the last 4 games against the Bantams, including a 3-1 victory at the Eco-Power Stadium earlier on in the season.
To add to this, Doncaster have found an upturn in form of late as they are unbeaten in their last 4 matches, with their most recent result being a 3-0 win over Leyton Orient.
City’s last result was a 3-0 loss to Lincoln City, where they were completely outplayed by the side currently sat in 2nd, only registering 1 shot on target all game and having an XG of 0.03, which is lowest recorded since XG was measured.
1,682 fans travelled to Lincoln, and they made their voices heard that they want the club to dip into the market and “sign a striker”, which according to Doncaster manager Grant McCann in his pre-match press conference he believes they have;
“We believe they have signed Ethan Wheatley, whether he is availible, if he gets announced today or tomorrow, we will see.”
Wheatley spent the first half of the season at Northampton Town on loan from Manchester United, scoring 3 goals in 22 games for the Cobblers before being recalled by Manchester United.
It has been reported that the loan deal for Wheatley to Bradford was done weeks ago, but the England youth international striker has been recovering from an injury he sustained in his final game for Northampton, a 2-0 defeat to Huddersfield.
Wheatley is not the only striker Bradford have been linked with either, Paul Mullin also looks set to join on loan from Wrexham after his loan at Wigan Athletic was cut short.
Mullin scored 4 goals in 20 League games for Wigan, but he is better known for his work with Wrexham, as he played a huge part in their rise from the National League to the Championship, scoring over 100 goals for the Red Dragons.
Bradford City must register new signings by 12pm today if they want them to play tomorrow.
Possible lineups:
Bradford City: GK Sam Walker, CH Aden Baldwin, CH Curtis Tilt, CH Ibou Touray, WB Josh Neufville, CM Jenson Metcalfe, CM Max Power, CM Bobby Pointon, WB Tyreik Wright, CF Stephen Humphrys, CF Calum Kavanagh
Doncaster Rovers: GK Zander Clark, FB Jamie Sterry, CH Owen Bailey, CH Jay McGrath, FB Jack Senior, WM Luke Molyneux, CM George Broadbent, CM Robbie Gotts, CM Harry Clifton, WM Hakeeb Adelakun, CF Francis Okoronkwo