New Bradford City manager Graham Alexander says he will not be dwelling on on his short spell at MK Dons earlier this season, insisting it was too short a period to determine what went wrong.

Asked if taking this role in BD8 was a quick way to right the wrongs of that perceived “failure” in Buckinghamshire, where he was sacked after only 16 games in charge, Alexander said: “It depends how you look at that last job.

“I don’t know massively what went wrong, because you could look at August when we were top of the league and I was Manager of the Month, then another month when it wasn’t that way.

“It was too short a period to look back on, so I haven’t really.

“I know how football is, I understand the pressures that come from the job, but if you want to build and achieve something, overcome what’s gone on before, you need a significant amount of time to do that.

“But I’m a big boy, I know how the game works, and I’ll crack on with the future, that’s all I’m fussed about.”

Alexander has been joined at City by his long-time assistant Chris Lucketti, who has been by his side at Fleetwood, Scunthorpe, Salford and MK Dons.

The pair have helped Fleetwood to promotion via the play-offs and were the duo to bring Salford into the Football League for the first time.

Bradford Telegraph and Argus: Graham Alexander (left) and Chris Lucketti (right) have enjoyed a fruitful partnership for years.Graham Alexander (left) and Chris Lucketti (right) have enjoyed a fruitful partnership for years. (Image: Thomas Gadd.)

Hailing their partnership, Alexander said: “It’s not my success, it’s our success.

“We’ve been together for 10 years as a management partnership and we played together for six years before that at Preston.

“We built up a really strong professional respect for each other over that time.

“I wouldn’t say it was a close friendship, but we trusted each other implicitly as players.

“We got to coach together in the academy at Preston and when I had the opportunity to manage at Fleetwood it was a no-brainer to bring Chris with me, as long as that was what he wanted.

“We’ve really enjoyed working together since then and we understand each other’s mentality.

“We’re really honest with each other and don’t hold anything back from each other, which you can do when you’ve got that strong level of trust between you.

“He’s experienced being a manager at Bury too, which I think made him an even better assistant, as it meant he’d been in a manager’s shoes.

“Trust is the biggest word, but he’s a thinker of the game too.

“He has a great rapport with players and staff alike, so he’s a big tower of strength for me.”