Graham Alexander hails ‘intelligent’ Bradford for late win over nine-man Wigan

Graham Alexander felt his Bradford side played with intelligence to eventually break down Wigan’s nine men in their 2-1 win at Valley Parade.

Joe Wright headed home Max Power’s 89th-minute corner after the visitors had both Jensen Weir and Matt Smith sent off for two yellow cards.

Bradford manager Alexander said: “We should win from that stage when it goes down to nine men.

“But, as you know in football, it doesn’t always happen like that because the opposition get more determined.

“The way we used the ball and created opportunities and made them work was really intelligent.

“It would have been easy just to bang balls in the box and try and force the issue. We had to be a little bit more expansive with our passing and get behind people and I thought we did that really well.”

Former Wigan forward Stephen Humphrys had put Bradford in front after 45 minutes with an angled finish from Ibou Touray’s flick-on.

Callum Wright then levelled in the 64th minute after being set up by Christian Saydee, but red cards for Weir and Smith ended the game as a contest before Joe Wright’s late decider.

Alexander said: “At this stage of the season, I think all the games are really tight for certain periods.

“Then moments or events happen and it sways the trajectory of the game in one way or another and I think when we scored, we were in pretty good control.

“When they scored, I thought we were still in control and it was a really poor goal from our perspective.

“But there have been some special moments here in the last 12 months and they keep coming.”

Wigan manager Ryan Lowe admitted the defeat was tough to take after the two dismissals.

He said: “I’m proud of the boys and they deserved a little bit more from that. The sending-offs definitely kill us.

“We should have had a penalty when Callum Wright is body-slammed to the floor and the referee’s right in front of it.

“The ref told me before the game that he apologised for making a mistake at Mansfield and not giving a goal and hopefully he won’t do one of them today – and he’s done that.

“When we score and it goes 1-1, the momentum is in our favour. Then Jensen gets sent off for a second yellow card for a needless foul.

“I’m like a broken record. The lads are trying to play and quieten the 22,000 crowd.

“We’re trying to compete and carry on and then we get downed by a sucker punch, a set-play when we’re missing two key players.

“I’ve told the lads in no uncertain terms that they’ve got to stand up and be counted. I’ll lead them and they’ve got to follow because we’ve got more games that are going to be tougher and tougher.”