MARK Hughes admitted it was “one of those nights” for City after they lost a penalty shoot-out to Leicester under-21s in the Papa Johns Trophy.

The Bantams were pegged back from two up to draw 2-2 at Valley Parade before the young visitors grabbed the bonus point.

Hughes was frustrated that his side did not nail qualification before their final group match at leaders Burton.

He said: “We clearly did enough to win the game. We had any number of chances over and above the two we actually converted.

“We’re disappointed not to put the group stage to bed. We weren’t able to do that but we’ve got another opportunity to be able to progress.

“It was one of those nights. We didn’t quite get the rub of the green.

“We had many chances to finish the game off but didn’t quite get that third goal.

“We shouldn’t have had to score three when we were 2-0 up but that’s how it panned out.

“Credit to Leicester, they are a good young side with plenty of energy. Their keeper was outstanding on the night and saved them on a number of occasions.

“We’ve hit the bar and had things cleared off the line. Overall, we had enough opportunities to win any number of games.”

Bradford Telegraph and Argus: Leicester's Kasey McAteer celebrates his winning penaltyLeicester's Kasey McAteer celebrates his winning penalty (Image: Thomas Gadd)

Vadaine Oliver and Levi Sutton were on target for the Bantams, who played with three at the back and two strikers. Lee Angol played as a number 10 behind Oliver and Kian Harratt.

Hughes added: “We changed the shape. It was something I wanted to look at and felt this was the right opportunity to do it.

“I think we did okay in terms of making it work. There were just occasions in transition when we didn’t get our work right.

“That’s something we need to improve on if I feel three at the back or a different shape up top may well help us in the future.

“I wanted to get Vadaine and Kian more game time. I thought it was another opportunity to get Lee in those central areas where he’s been really effective in recent weeks and the shape allowed me to do that.”

City are still two points ahead of Leicester going into the final round of matches when they visit the Pirelli Stadium. A win over the Brewers would clinch first place and a home draw in round two.

“There’s still a lot to play for,” said Hughes.

“We obviously wanted to put the first part to bed with qualifying from out the group stage.

“We haven’t been able to manage that but we’ve still got an opportunity to finish top, so that’s what we’ll try and do.”