Graham Alexander confident of Bantams reaction at Barrow

The Bantams have to quickly shake off their EFL Trophy despair when they travel to sixth-placed Barrow this afternoon.

Alexander’s men are chasing a fourth straight win to accelerate their pursuit of the play-off places.

They are one of 10 teams within a three-point radius of seventh spot and the Bantams boss insists his players must swallow Wednesday night’s semi-final disappointment and stay strong enough, mentally and physically, for the charge ahead.

“There are two options,” he said. “We feel sorry for ourselves and sulk or we use it as fuel.

“I know which one I’ll be using and we’ll have to make sure the players do that.

“I think that will be the case after looking into the players’ eyes and what I’ve learned about them in the last three months.

“The English football season is the Grand National. You have to keep going and going.

“It’s another challenge right in front of you every three days. If you’ve got a weakness about you physically, then you’re not going to be able to do it."

The heavy state of the Valley Parade pitch will have taken a lot out of the City players after their big effort. But Alexander says they are used to those demands.

“Our training pitch is similar and we train on it every day. That’s why I’m a great advocate of being ultra fit and ready.

“We’re trying to get these players in a place where I think mentally they are there. We have to make sure physically they are there as well.

“We’ll look after them in between the games because I don’t think we’re at the stage of the season where we’re going to get them fitter.

“We just need to keep them as fresh as possible so they can go out and produce performances like that. They were fantastic.”

Wycombe’s goal in stoppage time was the first City had conceded in nearly 10 hours of football.

Alexander feels the recent upturn in form has made them more resilient and determined to bounce back.

“It gives us confidence. It gives them something to fight for, some motivation.

“There is something right in front of us. It’s going to be a battle.

“There are still plenty of opportunities and games but there are loads of other teams in that group. They are all thinking the same.

City were beaten 3-2 at Barrow at the start of last season (Image: Thomas Gadd)

“We have to make sure we come out on top of that group come the end of the season after 46 games.

“What I’ve seen from the players in the last three months, we’re certainly more than capable of that.

“We’ve just got to make sure we’re fully focused on the future and not what’s just gone.”

City’s first appearance in the last four of the Trophy may have ended in bitter defeat but Alexander says it has given the team another taste of the big occasion.

“They are the games you want to be involved in, even if sometimes they don’t go your way.

“Luckily enough for us, we still have the potential opportunity to be involved in games like this again this season.

“But there’s a lot of hard work that goes into that, a lot of discipline away from the club in your home life and how you live to make sure you get across that white line and do what you did last night.

“If we can do that, we’ll give ourselves the best chance of making it a successful season.”