Bradford boss Alexander 'perplexed' by drop off

Bradford City boss Graham Alexander led the club to promotion from League Two last season

Bradford City boss Graham Alexander says he has to get to the bottom of why his side drop off in intensity after they lost 3-1 at Doncaster Rovers in the EFL Trophy.

The Bantams made 10 changes from the XI that lost 2-1 at home to Burton in the league on Saturday.

They led 1-0 at the break in South Yorkshire but let in three goals in 14 second half minutes to slip to a sixth game without a win.

"We were absolutely cruising because we were aggressive, on the front foot and had confidence on passing the ball. The second half we stopped competing," Alexander, who was serving a one-match touchline ban, told BBC Radio Leeds.

"For some reason we can't maintain our pressing, with all the proven rewards it brings.

"We either physically can't maintain it or mentally can't. I have to find out the reason why.

"I could see it before their equaliser. It was just an accident waiting to happen.

"I just looked at the duel data and first half it was through the roof and second half it was bang average and bang average gets beat.

He added: "It's perplexing. I had a bird's eye view of it so I could see it happening. I was so pleased with what we showed in the first half... I'm scratching my head right now."

Despite their poor recent run Alexander's side are through to the last 32 of the competition and are just one point off the top of League One after 15 matches.

They return to league action with a trip to fellow promotion hopefuls Bolton on Saturday, 22 November and Alexander says his side need to rediscover their "character and confidence".

"I want us to think long and hard about what we want to be as a team," he said.

"If we think we can stand four yards off everyone and be good enough to do that and win games... I can put a bible out in front of them that shows we have to be aggressive and on the front foot. As soon as we respect people and are fearful you're dead anyway.

"I really don't get it because we're a newly promoted team and we're second in League One. We're one of the hardest teams to beat and we give them nothing but positive messages and then one pin prick can burst the confidence.

"We need to find our character and confidence again because at the moment it looks really brittle."