Bradford City front three hailed after win at Accrington

Okay, granted it was actually Tyreik Wright, Andy Cook and Clarke Oduor, but the Bantams trio were so good in the first half of the 3-0 win at Accrington Stanley, that you could be forgiven for thinking you were watching that famous Barcelona front three from just under a decade ago.

City were vastly improved from their turgid 1-1 home draw with Doncaster in midweek and this comfortable win allowed them to move within five points of the League Two play-offs, with at least one game in hand over most of those sides who represent their competition in that race for the top seven.

And it was the three starting City forwards who did most of the damage against an Accrington side still reeling from the sacking of long-serving manager John Coleman last Sunday.

Wright netted twice, his first goals of this second loan spell at City, Cook played a major role in both of those strikes, before scoring the third himself, while Oduor caused all manner of problems for the hapless home defence, whether that be for his trickery on the right wing or whenever he cut inside.

On-loan Plymouth winger Wright limped off with a foot injury, which neither he nor City boss Graham Alexander believe is serious enough to rule him out of Tuesday’s clash with Forest Green, 90 seconds after the break, but the damage had already been done by the terrific trio.

After the game, a beaming Alexander told the T&A: “I thought their movement was really good.

“I thought they interacted really well as a three, given it’s only Tyreik’s second or third game for us since coming back and Clarke had to do a job for us in midfield during the week.

“I think Tyreik is a more natural fit on the left, and this is the first time he’s played there under me.

“He looked ruthless today, but with all three of them, as I said, their movement was brilliant

They had a combination of strength, pace and technique which caused Accrington a lot of problems.”

Tyreik Wright enjoyed by far the best afternoon so far of his second spell on loan with City. (Image: Thomas Gadd.)

He may not have recorded a goal or assist today, but Oduor was outstanding for the whole 80 minutes he was on the field.

The former Barnsley man has had an up and down spell at City this season, perhaps partly down to the fact he has been unable to nail down a set position.

But he has started to become a regular fixture on the right wing over the last few weeks and he is making the most of that opportunity.

Alexander mused: “That’s possibly been a factor (Oduor having to line up in a number of different positions this season) but when you have injuries and suspensions, you want to use the players who’ve been getting regular game time to fill the gaps.

“We were down on numbers on Tuesday against Doncaster, so he moved back into midfield.

“I actually thought he did okay in there, even though I maybe could have still played things differently from a tactical point of view.

“Today, I put him back in the position he’d played in the previous three or four games before Doncaster and he gives the opposition a lot of problems down the right, the way he handles the ball, the way he sees a pass and the way he can take people on one versus one.

“I thought he was superb all game today and it’s just that he was flagging a bit right near the end, which was why I took him off for some fresh legs.”

Though the front three were the stars of the show, no-one really had a bad game for City, with Alexander reflecting: “We understood where we didn’t do too well on Tuesday.

“We looked at what went wrong as coaching staff, spoke about that with the players, and aimed to get back to what we’ve been good at in recent weeks.

“Doing that was what really impressed me about the team in that first 40 minutes in particular.

“We got three goals and we haven’t been as clinical as that in the past, so I was delighted with the players.

“We didn’t let up in the second half and we could have scored more, but we made sure Accrington didn’t really have any good opportunities, so that was equally as pleasing for me.”

Another thing that undoubtedly pleased Alexander was the return to the squad of Daniel Oyegoke and Jamie Walker after long spells out injured.

Both were named on the bench, with the talismanic Walker coming on for the final 10 minutes and coming close to marking his return with a goal, only for Stanley keeper Radek Vitek to make a good save with his legs.

There was one surprise absentee in Sam Stubbs, with Alexander revealing that the centre-half was sick at home after the game against Doncaster in midweek after taking a blow to the head.

That meant he failed a concussion test for this game, though the City boss remains hopeful that the 25-year-old will be available to him for either the Forest Green game at Valley Parade on Tuesday or the home clash with league leaders Mansfield Town next Saturday.

With Stubbs absent, Alexander was indebted to the bravery of Liam Ridehalgh, who slipped seamlessly into the back three despite playing with a bandaged hand after suffering a broken finger 10 days ago, which had initially been expected to keep him out for around four weeks.