Mark Hughes praised Andy Cook’s perseverance after the striker’s 23rd league goal of the season kept Bradford firmly in the promotion hunt with a thrilling 3-2 victory over Grimsby.
Cook struck nine minutes from time from substitute Matt Derbyshire’s cross as the Bantams came from behind in a lively game to move up to sixth in League Two.
And Bantams boss Hughes, a former striker himself, appreciated Cook’s efforts and praised the character of his side.
“Andy was getting a little bit frustrated but that’s the lot of a striker,” Hughes said.
“I know myself that you’ve got to keep going. You’ve got to make 10-15 runs just to get one ball.
“When you’re a striker, you get the plaudits because you get the opportunity to score the winner.
“All the other runs you have to do before you get that one ball is part and parcel of it. That’s the deal you sign up to.
“We got ourselves into a little bit of a pickle to be 2-1 down in a game where we’d started really strongly.
“But that’s when you have to show your character and I was really proud of the guys.”
Bradford went in front after six minutes through Alex Gilliead.
The game was turned on its head when Harry Clifton’s quick-thinking won a penalty off home goalkeeper Harry Lewis and Gavan Holohan converted from the spot.
Grimsby took the lead just before half-time through Andy Smith after Bradford failed to deal with Anthony Glennon’s corner.
Bradford levelled after 62 minutes with Jamie Walker scoring at the second attempt on the end of a long ball from Sam Stubbs.
Centre-back Stubbs thought he had scored with a header before Cook’s alert finish clinched the comeback victory.
Grimsby manager Paul Hurst felt the heavy fixture list caused by their FA Cup run to the quarter-finals had taken its toll.
He said: “I thought the lads did well in the main. There was no doubt we were up against a good side and they ramped it up second half.
“I’m just disappointed we couldn’t get a point from the game that I thought we probably deserved – although they might have a different view.
“I wanted us to come and be confident in the game, get on the ball and play.
“We started quite well, then went a goal behind. But very quickly we got back on top of it.
“We knew they’d have a go at us second half. The fans here demand that and the players responded well.
“It’s not an excuse but it did look like a team who were probably fresher.
“But after what our players have been through it was maybe understandable. We tried to change things but just came up a little bit short.”
