PHIL Parkinson was scratching his head after Wrexham ended up with nothing against the Bantams.

Andy Cook’s late winner condemned the Welsh side to a third successive League Two loss - and fourth in all competitions.

Parkinson was left frustrated by his former club’s smash-and-grab raid.

He admitted: “It hurts. We dominated the game, particularly in the first half when we were excellent.

“We set out to do everything we wanted to against a 3-4-3 system, moved the ball well, got in some good positions and just couldn’t find the moment.

“The way we played probably justified us coming in one or two ahead. That was probably as good a first-half performance as we’ve put in for a while.

“We know we’re in a period where it’s not going our way but the lads have given us absolutely everything today.

“We just couldn’t find the moment to unlock the door to lift everybody. But it was certainly not through lack of effort.”

Wrexham failed to score at home in the league for the first time in 52 games – a run dating back to November 2021.

“That just shows when we have that dominance in games, you just feel in that moment the goal is going to come,” added Parkinson.

READ MORE: Alexander delighted for Cook after tough couple of weeks

“When you have that much play in the final third, you obviously expect to score. It’s few and far between that has happened to us at home.

“We were very much on the front foot all over the pitch, particularly in the first half when we pinned them back, but football is about putting the ball in the back of the net.

“It just wouldn’t fall for us when we needed it to.

“When you’ve had a few defeats and things are going against you, that can happen.

“We’d love to have won the game and I think we deserved to but one big moment at the end has proved decisive.”

Before scoring the goal, Cook had seen a penalty saved by keeper Arthur Okonkwo after ref Ben Speedie blew up for Aaron Hayden’s pull on the City striker.

Parkinson said: “I’m pleased for Arthur, he’s learning as a goalkeeper and developing all the time. I thought he had a good game.

“I didn’t think it was a penalty. The same ref gave one against Aaron Hayden in the (Carabao) Cup game, which wasn’t a penalty.

“It was never a pen. The ball was in the keeper’s hands, there’s practically no contact but Arthur saved it anyway.

“That performance deserves more but sometimes you don’t get what you deserve in football and the big thing is nobody feels sorry for you. We’ve got to pick ourselves up now.”