Bradford City have not conceded for nearly seven hours

The sudden departure of Harry Lewis mid-transfer window for Carlisle opened up a spot that had been nailed down since the popular keeper arrived at Valley Parade in the summer of 2021.

Replacing the ever-present stopper halfway through the season was a challenge for the Bantams.

But the experienced Walker has made a confident start between the posts and goes into tomorrow’s home clash with basement club Sutton with three consecutive clean sheets under his belt.

The 32-year-old excelled himself under the physical barrage at Wrexham and then denied MK Dons any consolation in Tuesday’s resounding 4-0 win.

“Apart from these last two games, I don’t think Sam has had too much to do,” said Alexander.

“It’s not like he’s had to pull out loads of saves or he’s let in three or four easy goals.

“We’ve defended really well as a team and not given him anything to do.

“But the last two games, he’s been tested and, certainly in the Wrexham game, he showed what a good goalkeeper he is.

“The goalkeeper can have a big effect on the confidence and composure of the team in front of him. Sam has that stature to impact the team in a positive way.

“The players don’t know him that well but I think they know him more after the last two games.”

Walker had first been identified as a potential target in the summer when it looked like Lewis could be off to Barnsley.

City swiftly rekindled their interest last month to get their man when the keeper’s short-term deal with Charlton had expired.

Boss Alexander added: “It’s a unique, specific position. A lot of thought and concentration goes into it and you can’t make too many mistakes with a goalkeeper in your recruitment plan or as a manager picking them.

“Usually, you get them in the summer and work with them in pre-season to iron out anything.

“Coming in mid-season can be difficult. But I do think he was coming into a team that was structured really well and defensively strong anyway.

“That gave him a few games to build into it before he had those two busy ones.

Swindon were the last team to score against City five games ago (Image: Thomas Gadd)

“We’re not talking about a 21-year-old with five games under his belt. Sam’s in his 30s and been around.

“He’s come in and made himself part of the team straight away off the pitch and I think that’s helped his performances on it.”

City have not conceded in the last nine halves of football, including the Bristol Street Motors Trophy win over Doncaster when Colin Doyle was in goal.

Alexander said: “Goalkeepers and defenders pride themselves on clean sheets and we want them to feel like that.

“We want them patting themselves on the back and getting in a huddle. We like that togetherness.

“Sam’s quite an easy guy to get on with. He’s experienced, so he’s just slipped into it really well.

“We’ve kept it quite basic to begin with. But as we progress, we give him a few more instructions and a bit more detail and he’s taken to it straight away.

“We’re delighted with what we’ve seen so far.”