CITY 1 MILLWALL 1

THE BIG boys were all present and correct for a contest that traditionally tests brawn as much as brain.

A clash with Millwall, regular sparring partners in the last couple of years, is never one for faint hearts or soft centres.

Unfortunately the beef on display at Valley Parade was of the Bulls variety as Leon Pryce and several team-mates took up City’s well-meaning gesture to invite their newly re-formed rugby neighbours.

But the Bantams had to make do without their most physically imposing presence. Not for the first time, they had to stand toe-to-toe with the Lions minus James Hanson.

He had missed both play-off legs through injury eight months earlier – and we all know how that panned out.

Once again on Saturday, City were denied his aerial power at both ends of the pitch against opponents who can pose such a set-piece menace.

That had not been Stuart McCall’s plan.

He had finished Thursday’s training session with Hanson at the fulcrum of a three-man attack. Then everything changed.

It is the silly season of the transfer window so nothing should surprise.

We are often told how situations can suddenly alter when the phone rings.

Sheffield United indicated their interest which Hanson’s agent had passed on to the striker and McCall found himself at the centre of a dilemma that was not of his making.

The personal terms on the table from the Blades are clearly very good. Good enough certainly to play with Hanson’s focus.

So McCall made the call to pull him out of training and give him time to think things over. From a club point of view, there was also the risk of then picking up an injury if the deal had all but been sealed pre-match.

McCall did not have the same luxury of a thinking period. Team sheets and tactics had to be re-written.

He had already made up his mind to go with three at the back with an extra centre half to counter the duel danger of Steve Morison and Lee Gregory, the finest double act in this league according to the Bantams boss.

But the personnel had to change as 3-4-3 immediately evolved into 3-5-2 – or even a 3-5-1-1 with Mark Marshall free to roam.

It was hardly a risk to summon Matt Kilgallon for starting duty considering how well he had coped on the cabbage patch at Cheltenham. Nor that Romain Vincelot would slip back into midfield.

And James Meredith and Tony McMahon are the perfect mould for wing-backs.

But Hanson’s absence at the top end of the pitch blew that three-man strike idea out the window.

Millwall boss Neil Harris did not pretend to hide his delight when he found out City would be Hanson-lite once more.

Gossip travels fast in football. Secrets do not remain for long in a tight-knit world where everyone knows everyone else and the visitors had got wind of Hanson’s absence early.

Hence Harris saying after the game that he had travelled north confident of inflicting City’s first home defeat.

He remains a big fan of the big man after his failed attempt to sign him before the start of last season.

While there remains a disturbingly large number of critics within the City fanbase, mainly of the keyboard variety, opposition bosses are united in their appreciation for what Hanson brings.

This weekend poignantly brought up the fourth anniversary of that header at Villa Park – a moment frozen in time that sent City to a cup final and the local lad into club folklore.

Some will say that’s in the past, a special memory that’s gone; forget it and move on.

But if Hanson’s best days are behind him, as the knockers will frequently remind you, why are the League One leaders so keen on his services? Or that Burton Albion also asked about him earlier in the week?

There is clearly a rather large collective blind spot among the managerial fraternity to all these short-comings so perceptibly picked up on by the “anti” brigade.

Not that City haven’t been used to afternoons without Hanson. The niggly injuries have built up in another frustratingly fractured season which has limited him to just four goals.

Had Sheffield United’s interest become apparent earlier in the week, it would not have been such an issue. An annoyance for McCall, for sure, but there would not have been the need for such a hasty reshuffle.

But a call right on the eve of the game made for a frantic Friday on the wipe board and video screen.

It helped that McCall was dealing with seasoned pros switched on to changing circumstances and that experience was evidenced in a battling display.

Early nerves over the unusual formation soon settled and City would end up with a 61 per cent share of the ball.

A 22-shot tally is not shabby either for a team minus their scheduled centre forward, although once more there was not enough direct pressure on Millwall keeper Jordan Archer for all the territorial control.

The visitors defended well, particularly centre halves Byron Webster and Reading loanee Jake Cooper, who towers in at around 6ft 7in.

The imposing height of the team generally meant City had to think clever and play around them.

That suited Marshall down to the ground and he attacked Millwall from all angles, left, right and down the middle. A free rein was a licence to cause havoc whenever he got on the ball.

But it did not work so well for Alex Jones who found himself without a partner at times as Marshall buzzed all over. The youngster ran hard enough but did not get that chance to run in behind that he is craving.

Harris thought he had got his wish when Lee Gregory punished City early in the second half.

Gregory, who scored in both games in May, was on target once more with a strike that owed plenty to personal persistence.

He had a lot to do when Aiden O’Brien flicked on into his path in a busy goal mouth. Romain Vincelot was breathing down his neck but Gregory hung on to the ball, worked himself the tightest of openings and squeezed an angled shot beyond Colin Doyle.

But going behind galvanised City and a home crowd who stayed with them throughout.

The noise level increased with the level of the team’s response which earned an equaliser ten minutes later.

Typically, Marshall was involved and his low cross was turned home by the sliding James Meredith.

It was only the Australian’s second goal of the season and came at the end of a week when he had been heavily rumoured as a window target for Championship clubs.