Bradford City

"Huddersfield were a bit overawed. Huge crowd, big atmosphere, they just couldn't cope with Bradford after the first 15 or 20 minutes."

"If we keep the home form and turn the away form around, we're going to win the league."

Jamie Raynor is once again joined by Paul Hudson and Mark Bower after Bradford City's emphatic 3-1 West Yorkshire derby win over Huddersfield Town. They discuss Bradford's dominant performance, the might of Valley Parade and the influence of Andy Cook's presence on the pitch.

Listen to the full episode of Take Me Home on Sounds.

Bradford City's Tommy Leigh has enjoyed his move into midfield as he departs from the forward position he occupied last season for the club.

Leigh has appeared in central midfield in all of Bradford City's seven league games so far this season and looks set to feature there again in Saturday's West Yorkshire derby against Huddersfield (12:30 BST).

"Last season I was playing a bit more as a striker but me and the gaffer spoke through the off-season and said midfield is better for me and I totally agree with it. Midfield suits me more," Leigh told BBC Radio Leeds.

To ensure he's efficiently integrated into the midfield, Leigh has been watching videos of other Bantams midfielders.

It's helped his understanding of the role boosting his chance for selection from a Bradford City squad with 11 players who can play the position.

Having the ability to referenced himself against his peers allows Leigh to be self-aware of his abilities and, more crucially, where he needs to get better.

"Watching clips helped me with positioning on the pitch," he added.

"I think the range of passing for me is big. I can find people, I'm not scared to lose the ball, I force things.

"But defensively I need to improve, I know that for a fact and I can only work on that out on the training pitch and going through clips of it."

Bradford will look to get back to winning ways after suffering their first defeat of the season to Doncaster Rovers last weekend. Leigh expects the crowd to help the Bantams to their first league derby win in 20 years.

"When you turn up to Valley Parade and there's 20,000 [people] there watching you, you want to win not just for yourself but for everyone else watching you," he said.

"If you win then it's a very good vibe in the team, it's a good vibe outside of the football with the fans and obviously Saturday's a massive game."

Listen to the full interview with Tommy Leigh and more Bradford City on Sounds.

Image source, Getty Images

Bradford City boss Graham Alexander will assess the fitness of Andy Cook, Lewis Richards and Matthew Pennington before Saturday's West Yorkshire derby against Huddersfield Town.

Striker Cook (knee) and defenders Richards (hamstring) and Pennington (ankle) all played in a behind-closed-doors friendly on Tuesday, along with summer loan signing Tom McIntyre who is yet to make his debut.

Defender Neill Byrne is ahead of schedule with his recovery from a knee issue, but will not be available for Saturday's game at Valley Parade.

Bradford host Huddersfield for the first West Yorkshire derby in a league context since 2007. Both teams have made strong starts to the League One campaign.

"I think we have to be aware of the challenge, the quality of the team that's coming to Valley Parade, but we've been playing lots of big games, certainly at Valley Parade, and certainly in front of big crowds, big atmospheres, big pressure games and I think the players have handled themselves really well," Alexander said.

"I like to keep the game quite simple for the players, concentrate on the basics and I think it's the easiest way to focus on what's important, and what's important is the performance so we don't tend to spend a lot of time talking about anything else apart from that really."

Alexander also praised the development of Tommy Leigh as he adapts to a new role of central midfield.

The 25-year-old joined the club in January and played predominantly as a forward last season.

Listen to the full interview and more on BBC Sounds.

Former Huddersfield Town goalkeeper Matt Glennon has described his experience of playing in the West Yorkshire derby against Bradford City as "an absolute bear pit".

Glennon has played for both Huddersfield Town and Bradford City but only featured in the derby while at Town.

"I can still taste [Dean] Windass' elbow across my chops now from that game", Glennon told BBC Radio Leeds about Town's 1-0 victory over City at Valley Parade in League One in 2006.

"It's a proper derby where you can [feel] the hairs on the back of your neck when the crowd starts singing [and] you just know that everybody wants those three points."

Glennon also featured in the return fixture when Town beat City 2-0 to claim the West Yorkshire derby double during the 2006-07 season.

That season was the last time Huddersfield and Bradford played a league derby, so Glennon provided BBC Radio Leeds with a taste of what can be expected this Saturday.

"It's all action. It was saves, it was shots, it was tackles, it was elbows, it was stamping and it was an absolute bear pit," he added.

"That's exactly what you want and I'm expecting it to be the same with a massive crowd [this] weekend."

"I'm hoping it's going to be really tasty."

Glennon, like many Terriers and Bantams fans, is hoping for the gritty, aggressive West Yorkshire derby seen in the past, but cannot predict what will happen on Saturday.

"Talking to people around Huddersfield, they're a bit nervous about it. I think because Bradford have started so well, but promoted clubs do.

"It's going to be 'right this has been a while, who's taking home the spoils?' I do expect Huddersfield to do that, I expect Huddersfield to win that game but it's not going to be all their own way."

Go to the BBC WYS X page, external for updates on how to hear coverage of Bradford City v Huddersfield Town from your team's perspective.

"I know a few Huddersfield fans that are playing it down and saying 'oh, actually this isn't our big game, it's your big game' I mean come on who are you trying to kid?

"They're not going to be coming to Valley Parade thinking they're going to walk all over us and win 3-0. They're in for a tough test as well, so it's got the makings of a fantastic football match."

On the latest episode of Take Me Home, Jamie Raynor, Paul Hudson and Mark Bower review Bradford City's first loss of the season to Yorkshire rivals Doncaster Rovers, discuss star striker Andy Cook's 'fairytale return' against Grimsby Town and build up to the upcoming West Yorkshire derby with Huddersfield Town.

Listen to the full episode of Take Me Home and more Bradford City on Sounds.

Brad Halliday was a huge part of Bradford City's charge to promotion from League Two last season, making 43 appearances and earning a spot in the PFA League Two Team of the Year.

But is yet to feature in League One this term and has only played in the 3-0 Carabao Cup win at Stoke City and the 2-1 EFL Trophy victory over Grimsby Town.

But the 30-year-old sees it as evidence of the competitiveness throughout the Bradford City squad.

"When you look through the squad, it's really healthy. [There's] strength and depth," he told BBC Radio Leeds.

"I just keep myself fit and if I am needed or called upon I'm always available to give my best for the team."

Halliday scored the second goal in the win over Stoke, proving he is ready to deliver the goods when his manager turns to him.

Halliday now embraces 'helping people'

In alignment with manager Graham Alexander's communicative managerial style, experienced members of the squad like Halliday provide mentorship to newer members.

Halliday is cultivating a mentorship with summer signing Josh Neufville, whose success so far has effectively forced him to the sidelines.

Halliday played as a right midfielder 32 times in League Two last season, which is the position Neufville has played in each of the six league games so far this season.

"It's about the team ultimately at the end of the day," he added.

"Josh has come to speak to me about position specific stuff which obviously I can help. I've actually enjoyed it. I know it's strange saying that with not playing but I do like helping people."

Bradford City face League Two champions Doncaster Rovers on Saturday (15:00 BST) in a rematch of the league game played at the back-end of last season which made Doncaster champions.

Listen to the full interview with Halliday and more Bradford City on Sounds.

Bradford City head coach Graham Alexander has admitted his side wasn't good enough in the first half of their EFL Trophy tie against Grimsby Town.

The Bantams came back from behind in a spirited second-half performance to beat the League Two side, who had been reduced to 10 men after Henry Brown's red card in the 27th minute.

"I thought we were poor in the first half. We didn't the energy needed, the intent on the ball," Alexander told BBC Radio Leeds.

"I thought their goal was coming as we were just slow in our play and did not approach the game in the right way.

"When the penalty was given, I'd already been thinking something like that was coming for ten minutes before."

Despite the tricky first-half performance from his side, Alexander's men were able to turn things around after the break, with a late brace from returning striker Andy Cook was enough to secure the win.

"Based on the second-half possession, and the amount of opportunities we had around the box, we needed to score and we deserved to score," Alexander added.

"I'm glad we have won the game because we take each game seriously, each competition seriously.

"It would have been a bitter one to take if we hadn't won the game tonight because we would have only had ourselves to blame.

"As professionals, we should be going into every game looking to win it."

"To be 1-0 down and 2-1 down and still get stuck in and still find the energy and the confidence to go out there and win. We've had some fantastic wins this season, that's the win of the season."

In the latest episode of the BBC podcast 'Take Me Home', Jamie Raynor, Paul Hudson and Mark Bower discuss how grounding out a win emphasises competitiveness in League One before revisiting the emphatic 3-0 EFL Cup win at Stoke City, in what was a fine August for Bradford City.

Listen to the full episode of Take Me Home and more on BBC Sounds.

Jamie Raynor
BBC Radio Leeds journalist

Bradford City manager Graham Alexander has been speaking to the press ahead of his side's home fixture against AFC Wimbledon on Saturday (15:00 BST).

Here are the main talking points:

• Forwards Antoni Sarcevic and Stephen Humphrys have both trained after missing Tuesday night's EFL Cup second round victory at Stoke City with illness. Alexander is hopeful that both they and defender Matthew Pennington (ankle) will be available for this Saturday.

• Striker Andy Cook is now back in full training with the squad as he continues his rehab from an ACL injury to his left knee. The next step in his recovery is '11v11' game time which Alexander hopes to give him in a behind-closed-doors friendly, however that's proving difficult to organise due to their current busy schedule.

• Defender Lewis Richards is back in training after a muscle strain but remains "two weeks away" from selection due to an interrupted pre-season, with a need to build up his fitness. Calum Kavanagh's shin issue continues to be troublesome, with no specific timescale on his return to training.

• With just days remaining of the summer transfer window, Alexander feels they still need to add one more player. He wouldn't specify which area they're looking to improve, when asked. Due to budget, it remains dependant on whether or not they can move on any of the existing squad before the window closes.

• Alexander said squad rotation is something he's continuing to grapple with, admitting that he's having to adapt his instinctive management style. He spoke of his learnings from last season after a number of injuries hampered their early season form.

Listen to Alexander's full pre-match press conference and more on BBC Sounds.

Bradford City head coach Graham Alexander said his side delivered their best performance of the season in knocking out Stoke City in the EFL Cup second round.

After drawing 1-1 at League One's bottom side Peterborough on Saturday, the Bantams bounced back with a stunning 3-0 victory over the Championship leaders with goals from Will Swan, Bradley Halliday and George Lapslie.

It was the second time this season they have upset a Championship club after winning 2-1 at Blackburn in the previous round.

"I just thought as a performance that was our number one performance this season, as an all-round performance," Alexander told BBC Radio Leeds.

"We are just learning each game, every time we have a little knock-back like Saturday, we just improve again and we learn from that experience and try and improve on it.

"The players are showing that they are brilliant professionals, they trust each other and they are committed to their jobs, and you get performances like that if you have those three things."

Bradford will discover their third-round opponents following the Grimsby v Manchester United tie on Wednesday, with the nine remaining Premier League teams in European competition also entering at the next stage.

Alexander, who made five changes for the trip to the Bet365 Stadium, added: "I want to reward all the players with games and I wish I could pick all 20 every game, I really do. I want them to know that I value them and it's not through words but actions.

"You get performances like that when you have made changes, and I know Stoke had made changes too but they are still a top Championship squad.

"We were the better team and we deserved to win that game - it was a really tough challenge, but the players look forward to it."

Bradford City manager Graham Alexander believes that forced substitutions hampered his side as they drew 1-1 at Peterborough United through an agonising 91st-minute equaliser from Cian Hayes.

Alexander made five substitutions after Will Swan opened the scoring in the 55th minute, but he believes those changes disrupted the flow of the game.

"The intention was to keep the team, [we] were playing well, we were energetic but a couple of boys had mentioned about their tightness in certain muscle areas," Alexander told BBC Radio Leeds.

The Bantams manager did not disclose which members of his starting line-up had been forced off but was clear that he has to be careful with his players at the beginning of a season which will involve upwards of 50 games.

"The two things that we [need] to get through this period is picking up points and keeping players fit," he said.

Alexander is keen for his group to have learned from a tumultuous season in League Two last year, which ended in promotion.

"[We] started the season really well then lost five/six players for three months and we were in the bottom half of League Two, we have to remember that and learn our lessons," he added.

Bradford are unbeaten on their return to League One so far this season, but Alexander believes his side can always be striving for three points.

"There'll be a frustration from us all that we didn't see the game out with a clean sheet and take the three points," he said.

Bradford currently sit fourth in League One with 11 points from five games.

Listen to the full interview with Graham Alexander and more on BBC Sounds