Bradford City 2022/2023 season month by month: November

But a court appearance and fine for a crime he had committed seven months earlier spelled the end of Kian Harratt’s loan at Valley Parade.

City sent the Huddersfield striker packing straight after his conviction - they had not even known about the incident.

In truth, he had contributed little in his short time across the M606 other than his dad causing a stir by moaning on Facebook about Mark Hughes not playing him enough.

The Harratt-less Bantams then served up a stinker of a display to fall at the first FA Cup hurdle at home to Harrogate.

What should have been an ideal draw to progress - and unlock the door to some decent prize money - blew up in their faces with former loanee Matty Daly enjoying his Valley Parade return.

The home form continued to wobble without a win on their own soil since beating Stevenage in mid-September. That barren run would continue.

But first they had the matter of back-to-back away trips - and we all know how good the Bantams have been on their travels.

Kian Harratt's loan from Huddersfield was cancelled (Image: Thomas Gadd)

The rearranged trip to Mansfield promised a real test of their promotion credentials. City passed it with flying colours.

Andy Cook punished another former club with a sumptuous solo finish after Richie Smallwood had got the ball rolling.

All seemed well under control until Matty Platt’s red card made for a frenetic finish as Mansfield pulled one back and piled on the pressure. A marathon 11 added minutes did nothing to help the blood pressure but they held on for a significant victory.

City then made it six out of six on the road with another victory in south London. Cook, obviously, got their noses in front at Sutton before Scott Banks stepped up with a special goal of his own to make the long trip worthwhile for the travelling fans.

That made it six away wins from nine - only leaders Leyton Orient could better their 19-point record.

If only they could replicate that form in BD8 …

The scene was set for a massive home encounter against Northampton. Two points separated the teams in fourth and third - a win would propel the Bantams into the automatic places for the first time.

Valley Parade crackled with anticipation - the 18,666 crowd was the biggest since the opening day. But that figure would be a lot lower by the time referee Anthony Backhouse put City out of their misery.

A fifth winless home game in the swirling rain saw the Cobblers move five points clear with a cold and calculated success.

There had been nothing in it for half an hour but then a tense contest was blown away by a wildly misplaced pass from Smallwood. Mitch Pinnock capitalised to punish a back four badly missing Romoney Crichlow.

Northampton at home was a dark day for the Bantams (Image: Thomas Gadd)

Northampton cut through once again for Shaun McWilliams to fire a quick second and the game was as good as up.

Alex Gilliead clipped the bar but Sam Sherring’s header gave Northampton an emphatic advantage.

Andy Cook’s late penalty after he had been pulled back by Sherring did not even raise a smile from the scorer himself, let alone those who had stayed behind in the Kop, on a day when City had blown their opportunity.

With a blank weekend to follow, City’s Papa Johns Trophy second-round tie at Salford was their last game for 11 days.

A chance to go with all guns blazing on a ground where they had won in the league the month before?

Sadly, that was not the case. Hughes had kept with a strong line-up but it was a lifeless display in front of a crowd that number a pitiful 578.

City’s 305 followers accounted for over half of the Moor Lane turn-out but their only reason to cheer was the welcome return of Jamie Walker for the final quarter of the game - his first action since the opening day.

Swiss striker Lorent Tolaj took advantage of some lax marking from a throw to blast the only goal past Harry Lewis from a narrow angle.

Out of all the cups, there were now no distractions to City’s promotion ambitions.

HIGH: Two away wins in four days at Mansfield and Sutton brought City to the brink of the automatic promotion places.

LOW: After all the build-up, the Northampton home game felt such a let-down in the rain.

WHAT THEY SAID: Mark Hughes on Northampton loss: "Sometimes, at this level, you have days when you are not good enough and the opposition are better.

“We are honest enough to admit that today, the opposition were better than us.”

PLAYER OF MONTH: Brad Halliday