Graham Alexander tells Bradford not to be too ‘gung-ho’

Bradford manager Graham Alexander warned his team about getting too “gung-ho” after their 1-0 win over Northampton at Valley Parade.

Stephen Humphrys scored the only goal after 14 minutes with a far-post header after Bobby Pointon had kept the ball in play to cross from the byline.

Bradford’s first win in four games keeps them in fourth but Alexander admitted they did leave themselves open at times.

He said: “It was a hard game for us. Fair play to Northampton, they were always in it and had a few opportunities on the counter and from set-pieces.

“We had to defend our box really well but I thought we could have done better not allowing that many opportunities against us.

“We were a little bit open and gung-ho. We want to be an attacking team and we are and the players want to score more goals.

“But there’s a counter mindset we have to have. If it gets turned over, are we in the right position to counter-press and stop them coming through?

“That said, when it came down to the box, there were some great tackles and saves and a deserved clean sheet after Humphs’ goal.

“They are just as important to win the extra two points. To concede an equaliser would have been a sore one to take.”

Pointon put a good chance over the bar with a close-range header and Lee Burge denied Jenson Metcalfe on the counter-attack as Bradford pushed for a second.

Northampton slumped to a fifth straight defeat. They are now 11 points from safety in 23rd position.

Dean Campbell hit the bar from the edge of the box but they managed only one shot on target.

Interim head coach Colin Calderwood said: “There was much more spirit and endeavour. I liked a lot of what the lads did.

“Their application has never ever been in doubt and you’ve got to love that. The fans stood and applauded them at the end and that’s the response whatever the result.

“The disappointment in where we are is obviously massive but this group is still going. There’s no dejection in their bodies and I thought we did okay in moments.

“We made a decent start but then we’ve lost an early goal in the first 15 minutes again. That’s been repeating itself too often since Christmas.

“There was some good defending by both backlines in and around their last third. We’ve got to rinse and repeat again this week with how we lost the goal and improve on that.

“But you’ve got to represent your club in the best way and I think the players did that exceptionally well.”