Bradford City boss hails 'massive potential" of American

One of the biggest beneficiaries from City’s switch to a back three from mid-November, the young American, on loan from Norwich City, continues to stand out as one of the most stylish centre-halves in League Two.

He helped the Bantams to a 3-0 win at Accrington Stanley on Saturday, a result which moves Graham Alexander’s side to within five points of the play-offs, with a game in hand on many of the sides in and around them.

And Tomkinson has been a key figure in this late push for the coveted top seven, showing his full repertoire of talents at the Wham Stadium over the weekend.

His pinpoint long pass early on allowed Andy Cook to set up Tyreik Wright for City’s opener, while he was a colossus in defence all afternoon, often appearing seemingly out of nowhere to thwart any attacking danger posed by the hosts.

Alexander knows he has some player at his disposal in Tomkinson, saying to the T&A after the game: “He’s got massive potential.

“He’s been in our team regularly now for a few months, when both he and Ciaran Kelly didn’t play much prior to that.

“But we just saw the attributes the two of them have, they’re really quick, mobile and they’re both competitors.

“With JT, he’s still learning the game, but he’s really open to learning about it.

“Whatever we challenge him with or talk to him about, he takes it on board.

“And as an athletic centre-back, there’s none better than him.”

With Sam Stubbs missing on Saturday due to a concussion he suffered in the 1-1 draw with Doncaster a few days prior, Tomkinson and Kelly were joined in the back three by Liam Ridehalgh.

The 32-year-old did a sterling job at Accrington, impressing Alexander with his versatility and bravery.

The City manager said: “I thought he was excellent, especially given he broke his finger in training 10 days ago.

“He had his hand in plaster, and the injury was set to keep him out for four weeks, but he desperately wanted to be available, so he had another cast done.

City were lucky to have Liam Ridehalgh at their disposal on Saturday, but he overcame the pain barrier superbly. (Image: Thomas Gadd.)

“He’s ready to play and I thought he was superb today, in a great position for him on the left side of a back three.

“I think it suits his attributes and it was great to have Lewis Richards alongside him at left wing-back too, because he’s been missing for a little bit with injury.”

City’s players barely put a foot wrong on Saturday, but did they benefit from Accrington suffering a tumultuous week?

Stanley chairman Andy Holt sacked popular long-serving manager John Coleman via WhatsApp on last Sunday, the day after a grim 4-0 defeat at Wrexham.

That decision, and the manner in which it was undertaken, did not go down well with the Accrington fans, who made their feelings known on Saturday.

It will also be an adjustment for the players, who will have to get used to the unfamiliar prospect of life at Stanley without Coleman, who barring a two-year spell from 2012 to 2014, had been in charge of the Lancashire outfit since 1999.

Accrington struggled to cope with City's attacking movement all afternoon, coming close to conceding to the returning Jamie Walker here, but were their minds elsewhere after a tough week? (Image: Thomas Gadd.)

But Alexander said: “I think today was the fourth time we’ve played against a team with a new manager this season and we hadn’t won any of those other three games.

“Sometimes, there’s a massive response from the players and supporters over that sort of upheaval.

“Every game at this level is really competitive and difficult and it only looks easy if you do the right things, score goals and keep clean sheets, things like that.

“That wasn’t an easy game for us today, it looked like that when you see the result, but if we’d played like we did against Doncaster in midweek, we wouldn’t have won here.”