KRISTIAN Dennis was in the stadium at Valley Parade when his move to City fell victim of the deadline-day domino effect.

Dennis, the main striker target for the Bantams before the transfer window shut, was understood to be distraught when he heard that the deal would not be going through.

A fee, thought to be around £175,000 and a lot less than most had expected his club Chesterfield to demand, had been agreed for League Two's second-highest scorer.

Dennis, who has scored 15 goals for a side currently third from bottom, had agreed personal terms and undergone a medical when the club received the bombshell news.

City head of recruitment Greg Abbott said: "The player had been at City for a few hours after completing his medical, having received verbal and written permission from Chesterfield.

"The clubs had agreed on a fee and the terms were agreed. Chesterfield reneged on the deal and the player and Bradford City staff are gutted. There's nothing more we could have done."

City had been keen on Dennis through most of the window but Chesterfield fended off their advances and rejected several bids.

They were only prepared to sanction his departure on the final day providing they had an attacking replacement already lined up.

Jonson Clarke-Harris of Rotherham looked to be on his way – but that deal was hijacked late afternoon by Chesterfield's divisional rivals Coventry.

Having missed out on two strikers last week, Marc Richards and Craig Davies, the Sky Blues matched Chesterfield's bid and then came up with a higher offer for the player.

Chesterfield had two other back-up targets in mind, one thought to be Ricky Miller of Peterborough, but decided to call a halt to the chase and hang on to Dennis.

That left the Bantams scrabbling around for a possible alternative but it was too late to get anything done before the 11pm cut-off point.

It marked a day of huge frustration for Stuart McCall to cap a difficult mid-season window for the club.

City had begun yesterday fearing that the chances of landing Dennis were ebbing away because of Chesterfield's struggle to identify a suitable striker to take over.

But optimism grew when it appeared the Spireites were closing in on Clarke-Harris. Other targets were pushed to the back as it seemed Dennis would go through – and they were left with little time to revisit them.

Coinciding with a run of five straight defeats, City's worst since 2007, missing out on the 27-year-old striker will add to the feeling that the season is in danger of slipping away.

McCall will at least be able to call upon last week's signings for Saturday's critical trip to Oldham as well as fit-again goalkeeper Colin Doyle.

Tony McMahon, the subject of Scunthorpe interest early in the window, is also on the way back from injury.