Bradford City breakdown: Mark Hughes effect, Paudie O’Connor the leader and their weaknesses

A famous face comes to the Memorial Stadium as Mark Hughes brings his Bradford City side to take on Bristol Rovers.

Hughes, a shock appointment for the Bantams back in February, comes up against one of his former captain’s during his time as manager of Queens Park Rangers boss.

The Gas will hope to get back to winning ways after losing 1-0 to Carlisle United last week that saw them drop two places in their pursuit of an automatic spot.

Rovers are now looking over their shoulders with the chasing pack hoping to pounce on any slip up and Bradford are a side that can cause problems.

A 2-2 draw at Valley Parade back in October was deemed a good point at the time but three points are a must for Rovers if they want to continue what has been a consistent run of form since the start of the New Year

To get the inside track of what to expect from Bradford City, we spoke to Nathan Atkinson, who provides coverage on the sports teams in Bradford, including City to paint a picture on what the mood is like in the camp of the Yorkshire side.

Key player: I’d say at the moment is captain Paudie O’Connor. He’s the centre half who assumed the captaincy following the surprise departure of Niall Canavan in January, and he is in the top 20 for average ratings in the league. Most fans expect the former Leeds youngster to play at a higher level in future.

Strengths: I think defensively they are looking stronger and stronger. They have kept three clean sheets in their last four, and have only conceded 20 on the road too, which is less than everyone except the top three in League Two and Salford.

They are playing a more expansive style under Mark Hughes than Derek Adams, more attacking, but just their decision making in the final third needs a bit of work.

Weaknesses: Decision making and scoring goals has been an obvious issue.

Their xG (expected goals) is much higher than their actual goals, and though Andy Cook has scored 11 goals and is comfortably their top scorer, he has only scored 1 in his last 12.

Team News: No notable new players missing, just long-term absentees Tom Elliott, Abo Eisa and Lee Angol.

Last meeting

A new manager and a new style, and they’ve brought in several loan players, of whom Alex Bass (keeper), Jamie Walker (attacking mid) and Luke Hendrie (right back) are regular starters.

And finally...

Mark Hughes at Bradford. Can you really see him as the long-term option? How did it come about and why’d you think he took up the role?

I think with the Mark Hughes question, he liked the vision that was sold to him by the club, and I think he knew the reach of the club, with a big stadium and fan base that is perhaps more befitting of the Championship.

He has a deal until the summer of 2024, so that shows he is certainly viewed as a long-term option. He talks in glowing terms about the club and I think he’s relishing the challenge of learning League Two.