Graham Alexander rues first-half display as Bradford pay penalty at Fleetwood

Bradford boss Graham Alexander said a below-par first half cost his side any chance of success in their 1-0 defeat at Fleetwood.

The hosts were quicker out of the blocks and eight minutes in scored what turned out to be the game’s only goal, Ronan Coughlan converting from the penalty spot after Andy Cook had felled Matty Virtue.

And although Bradford were much improved after the break, Alexander was left to rue his players’ costly slow start.

“It was almost like a repeat of some of the away games where we don’t compete at the right level,” he said. “We’re quiet and for the first 20 minutes I think we were physically dominated in the first half and we’ve given a really poor penalty away, and they were pushing us onto the back foot.

“We didn’t recover until half-time and we competed better, we found our way into the game and dominated the second half, but without finding the quality we needed in the final third.

“We made it difficult for ourselves because it’s a poor penalty to give away and it came from us not being settled from the throw-in. They don’t even take it that quickly, but we just allow them to throw it in and dribble into our box.

“We gave ourselves a difficult task and we know the roadshow that we take to away grounds – I’ve just said that to the players, we must be aware of this by now. It’s not the first time in town, and if you give people cheap goals, then it just doubles – their determination doubles, their work ethic doubles, everything they’ve got. And we made it easier for them and tougher for us.”

Fleetwood manager Charlie Adam, in contrast, was delighted to get their first win since early October on the board.

Although injuries meant he was forced into a makeshift back three, Adam was thrilled with how his patched-up side performed.

“We always believe that if we get the right performance then the results will come,” he said.

“Today we started really well, coming out of the blocks fast. We wanted an atmosphere, we wanted energy from the team and we got that.

“Bradford came into the game and asked questions with the two lads up front and I thought we dealt with them really well. The back lads were excellent, all three of them. They stood up to the challenge and I’m delighted for them, the team and the group.

“When you’re playing that back five the other team can get frustrated and start to hit long diagonals in, we did really well dealing with that. I thought we could have been better on the second balls but in general they didn’t really cause us many problems.

“But they’re always going to be a threat with the quality they have and when they have somebody like Andy Cook in the box he will cause you problems but I thought our back line, and our team, was very good today and we nullified them and gave them very little.

“I’m delighted for the group and for the club because it’s been a tough couple of weeks in terms of the results. You’re always learning and trying to improve as a manager and a coach and it’s been a great way to finish the weekend.”