The Voice - Match preview Accrington Stanley vs Bradford City Saturday 9th March 2024 @ 3:00pm

EFL LEAGUE TWO FIXTURE #35

Saturday 9th March 2024 15:00
Accrington Stanley (16th) vs Bradford City (15th)
The Wham Stadium (AKA Crown Ground)

23/24 Results:

08 Aug 2023: Accrington Stanley 1 – 1 Bradford City [EFL Cup]
25 Nov 2023: Bradford City 1 – 0 Accrington Stanley

Head-to-Head Form: WWWLL (most recent result first)

Won: 6
Drawn: 5
Lost: 8

Current League Form:

Bradford City: DWWWD
Accrington Stanley: LLLDW

ACCRINGTON STANLEY

Accrington Stanley head into Saturday afternoon’s fixture on a 3-game losing streak, with no wins in 4, and having failed to beat Bradford City on 2 separate occasions so far this season – including at home in the EFL Cup, when the Bantams bested their Lancashire rivals 4-1 on penalties after a 1-1 draw. Accrington have only scored 2 goals in their last 4 league fixtures, and wound up losing 4-0 at Wrexham last Saturday – at a ground where Bradford City recently recorded a very creditable 1-0 win. Stanley have slipped below the Bantams last Saturday even though the Bantams didn’t play, such was the manner of their emphatic defeat in Wales.

The omens, then, could not be much worse for Accrington, which probably explains why they are more than 2-1 underdogs with the oddsmakers. Accrington Stanley’s last win did come at the Wham Stadium, however, when they beat AFC Wimbledon 2-0 on February 13th – since then, they have suffered their 6th home defeat of the campaign against Crawley Town by a goal to nil, though Accrington still have a creditable home record of 9 wins, 3 draws, and 6th defeats, putting them in 10th place in the ‘Home’ league table – they have, however, played a full 18 games, which is more than 10 other sides, including Bradford City.

Stanley had a good start to the season, beating Newport County 3-0 in their opening fixture, immediately prior to their EFL Cup defeat to City. 8 wins from their first 15 league fixtures saw them in 6th place in the League Two table and hoping for a successful campaign by the time October 24th rolled round. Fast forward just over 4 months, and Accrington have dropped to 16th, their play off hopes but hanging by the thinnest of threads – a fact that also applies to Bradford City, although, in truth, the Bantams have scarcely looked like a legitimate play-off threat all season.

Still, the drop off from that promising early season form has been quite marked. 6 wins in their last 25 games in all competitions is a poor record, and a further 7 draws don’t really serve to improve matters much. 12 defeats since October 28th represents a near 50 % defeat rate, much too high for any side, but especially a recently relegated side former League One side with ambitions of bouncing back at the first attempt.

That failure, it turns out, has cost John Coleman his job in the Accrington Stanley hot seat after an impressive 9-and-a-half year reign.

John Doolan will now take charge for the first time as interim manager, welcoming the Bantams for his first ever game in charge of a senior football club. The former Wigan Athletic and Stanley defender has been at Accrington since 2017 when he rejoined the club as first team coach and knows the club inside out. He was part of the backroom staff that helped Accrington Stanley out of League Two in 2018, two years after helping Hibs claim the Scottish Cup as a coach and will seek to improve his résumé further in a full managerial capacity.

Achieving something this season might be beyond his or anybody else’s abilities, but Doolan still has a lot to fight for. A good run of results could see him offered the position full time, which at 55 might represent his last such opportunity to finally crack the code in terms of first team management. The situation may be something Bradford City either relish or rue, depending on the levels Doolan is able to install with less than a week’s notice.

Midfielder Jack Nolan (12) leads the league scoring charts for Accrington, and has netted 4 times in his last 7 outings, suggesting a player that has remained on form despite his club’s recent struggles. 23 year old Tommy Leigh (6) is the next highest goal-getter, with Shaun Whalley (5) and Joe Pritchard (5) right behind him. Josh Andrews (5) departed for Gillingham on transfer deadline day on February 1st, although he has yet to make an appearance for the Kent-based side.

The arrival of Manchester United goalkeeper Radek Vitek on loan in the January window showed early signs of success with back-to-back clean sheets against Forest Green Rovers and Grimsby Town, only for the Czech stopper to concede 10 in the subsequent 6 games. Forward Jake Bickerstaff, who also joined on loan from Wrexham in the window, has made 6 starts but is yet to score a goal.



Wrexham 4 – 0 Accrington Stanley

BRADFORD CITY

After two successive postponements, Bradford City finally got the go-ahead for a game on Tuesday evening but were slightly underwhelming in a 1-1 draw at home to Doncaster Rovers. That result reinforces Bradford City’s reputations as draw specialists at Valley Parade, their 8th league stalemate of the season. That isn’t something that has tended to afflict City on the road, however, with only 3 draws from 17 games on the road. Unfortunately for City, their most common outcome on their travels is a defeat, having been beaten 8 times, winning only 6.

An inability to win on home soil (should that be sand?) and a middling away record have combined to kneecap any hopes that Bantams fans may have harboured (and might still harbour in some cases) of a run at the play offs, and though recent form remains good (unbeaten in 5 league games with only 1 goal conceded in that period), the club failed to address a season-long inability to score more than 1 goal per game and kill opponents off.

In truth, Bradford City were probably slightly fortunate to get a point on Tuesday evening. Doncaster Rovers, who had been on decent form themselves, looked like a side with confidence and, having played 2 games more than City recently, seemed to display less rustiness. The nature of their late equaliser as three substitutes combined for a Tyler Smith equaliser, however, might have positive ramifications if the squad can embrace the momentum of grabbing a late leveler.

That won’t make goals any easier to come by, however. Only Andy Cook (13) and Tyler Smith (4) have scored more than 3 league games this season and remain available for selection – a third, Jamie Walker (5), is out with a long term injury. The arrival of Calum Kavanagh has added another goal threat, but it wasn’t present on Tuesday evening, with the starting front 3 looking particularly ineffective. The midfield, too, suffered, with Clark Oduor and Kevin McDonald failing to impress in an unbalanced partnership, an issue remedied when Lewis Richards was brought on at left wing back, and Alex Gilliead was moved to a central position.

That better balance will be something Bradford City fans will be hoping for this Saturday afternoon, and perhaps Graham Alexander will have second thoughts about trying to shoehorn 4 attacking players into a not-particularly-attacking formation. Tyler Smith and Harry Chapman will have done their chances of selection no harm at all, either. While Smith got the goal, Chapman grabbed the assist off the back of good work from Richards. Whether all 3 start remains to be seen, but they definitely gave Bradford City a better balance and a more effective threat in the final third.

The problem remains, though, that if Bradford City are to concede even a single goal, their chances of winning diminish significantly. Goals do not seem to come easily, and clean sheets can’t be relied upon indefinitely – as we found out on Tuesday.



Bradford City 1 – 1 Doncaster Rovers

 

THE BREAKDOWN

21/10: Accrington Stanley
5/2: Draw
23/20: Bradford City

Bradford City head across the Lancashire border as significant favourites for this, their third tie of the season against Accrington Stanley. Where Accrington have, in the past, had the lion’s share of success against City, this season has been a different story entirely. The Bantams dumped Accrington Stanley out of the EFL Cup in the first round on penalties, before besting them once again in the home league fixture by a 1-0 margin and will look to make it a full complement of 6 points on Saturday afternoon.

The x-factor pertaining to this fixture will be the new manager. With John Coleman sacked after 9-and-a-half years in charge, and John Doolan taking the reins for his first ever first team league fixture at the age of 55, Bradford City will be facing a little bit of the unknown. Drastic changes probably aren’t likely, though, as Doolan has been with the Owd Reds for a full 7 years now, although he might still try to stamp his authority with a few tweaks and changes.

For Doolan, first team management is probably now-or-never. A run of wins might produce a fairytale narrative for the long-term coach, and getting off to a fast start against Bradford City will be a priority. With the likes of Jack Nolan, Stanley have a reliable goalscoring midfielder, though they still lack a bit of punching power up top, even more so having sold joint-third highest top scorer Josh Andrews to Gillingham in January.

By contrast, the vast majority of Bradford City’s attacking threat comes from the forward line. Tyler Smith will be pushing for a start, but it remains to be seen whether Graham Alexander goes ‘all out’ with a front 3 of Smith, Kavanagh and Cook, or continues to try to field attacking midfielders like Tyreik Wright and Clark Oduor as complementary creative forces. Either way, the return of Richie Smallwood will be more than welcome after a poor outing from central midfield pairing Clark Oduor and Kevin McDonald on Tuesday evening. Smallwood, who served the second of his two-game suspension after picking up 10 yellow cards this season, is likely to be restored to the starting XI and could provide the stability needed in that central midfield area.

If Lewis Richards is rewarded with a start, Alex Gilliead could likewise be restored to a central midfield role, giving the side a more balanced look than we saw against Doncaster Rovers.

Getting the team selection right will be of utmost importance, and doing so will give Graham Alexander’s side a good chance of building upon their recent impressive form. While a draw with lowly Doncaster Rovers wasn’t enough to sate the fans’ immediate desires for a late play off push, getting back on track in Lancashire this weekend will restore some of the positivity and momentum the club feel to have been building lately – and heap the misery on an out-of-form and effectively managerless Accrington.

The pick, therefore, is a 1-0 away win, City once again asking the question: is a very, very late play off push truly out of the question?

PREDICTION:

Accrington Stanley 0 – 1 Bradford City