Dean Windass wants to put his death threat nightmare behind him.

The City striker claimed he was the target of three poison pen letters after his recent sending-off, with one saying he would be stabbed in Bradford city centre.

Windass threw them all away but admitted he was shaken by the experience.

He said: "I know it's a minority but it's still quite upsetting. I didn't know what to do so I ripped them up and tried to forget about it.

"My wife Helen's a policewoman and that's the reason why I didn't tell her until Monday.

"She would have probably gone straight to her inspector and I didn't want the police involved. People have got to realise we've got lives as well and can't just switch off.

"I wasn't out on a jolly-up when I wasn't playing and of course I wanted the lads to win games and the strikers to score goals."

Windass was back from his ban last night - and admitted the scoreline capped off a miserable time.

"I've had a lot of kicks in the teeth in football but this is up with any of them. We didn't deserve to get knocked out.

"For the first time in my Bradford career, I fancied us to win on penalties. But we didn't get the chance because of a goal that shouldn't have been awarded."