Bantams boss on why Jamie Walker did not start at Grimsby

Alexander dropped Jamie Walker to the bench for yesterday’s 1-1 draw to add the extra height of centre half Jon Tomkinson.

Daniel Oyegoke, who had been filling the American’s role during his international absence, was moved into central midfield.

READ MORE: Spot-on Smallwood keeps City stranglehold on Grimsby alive

Walker came on midway through the second half and the subs all played a big part in City’s late improvement to grab a stoppage-time point.

Alexander explained that the Scot’s initial omission after the Good Friday win over Tranmere was a move to counter Grimsby’s more physical threat with another tall defender.

He said: “We could have kept the exact same team in the hope they could expend exactly the same energy in such a short period.

“We look at each individual in terms of whether they are coming back from injury or not played in a while.

“Bobby (Pointon) has not played for a while, Jamie’s come back from injury and there are a few others like Dan.

“It was one where I could have made no changes or changed four or five. But I felt that would have been too many to replicate the performance from Friday.

“I just felt we needed a little bit more energy but also the biggest chances we conceded on Friday were from set-pieces.

“We were a relatively small team and that was the only way we were going to concede. There were a couple of opportunities for Tranmere from set-pieces.

Jon Tomkinson came back in to add height for City (Image: Thomas Gadd)

“We knew Grimsby had a big threat from those and from long throws, which turned out to be the case. They can throw it into the box from 40-50 yards away and we had to combat that.

“We just needed to make sure we could match them with at least another physical player. That’s why I brought JT back into it.

“Putting the same team out, even though I knew there was a weakness from set-pieces, would have been irresponsible of me.

“We came to win the game and that was always my first thought.”