Bradford City’s January signing Kayden Jackson faces a month on the sidelines after picking up a knee injury.
The 32-year-old joined from Derby County earlier this year and has played six times for the Bantams, scoring once.
But the boyhood Bradfordian was replaced after 24 minutes in their all-Yorkshire clash against Rotherham United at the end of February.
And Graham Alexander has revealed that MCL damage will keep him out of action until the penultimate month of the campaign.
But that news was perhaps better than expected, with Jackson likely to be involved in the run-in. And with the potential for an additional three fixtures if Bradford reach the play-offs, then his presence will be welcome. It also gives him ample time to be eased back into action ahead of the end of season competition.
Of course, there is still an outside chance that the West Yorkshire outfit gain automatic promotion from League One. But a 13-point deficit to Lincoln City means that task feels near impossible, with Graham Alexander’s side having to make up more than a point per game on the Imps. Stockport County and Bolton Wanderers are the two other sides who have a slim chance of catching the top two, with at least one of Cardiff City or Lincoln guaranteed to drop points as they clash this weekend.
Bantams boss Alexander issued an update on another one of his players, who was replaced at Reading on Saturday with the score goalless.
“Aden [Baldwin] has a broken nose. He saw someone yesterday to get a mask made, just like we did for Tyreik. We need to see if it comes in time for Saturday to allow him to play. They are quite good.
“I remember when Tyreik had his and other the discomfort of having something around your eyes, it’s actually really strong and protective and gave him a lot of confidence to go and play. Aden will do the same and see if that comes before the weekend. He’s in quite a positive mood about it. He feels that it won’t impair him too much.”
Bradford Fans Given Late Fixture Alteration
Bradford supporters were further frustrated earlier today, after next week’s clash against Port Vale was pushed back 24 hours. While the disruption is minimal for the squad, as cited by Alexander, the impact on supporters is anything but. It really is an unfortunate situation, with Peterborough United fans also having reason to feel aggrieved, after their scheduled clash with Vale this weekend was called off.
It all stemmed from the postponement of the Valiants FA Cup tie against Bristol City last month, which Jon Brady’s side won yesterday evening. They now host Sunderland on Sunday, another club who have been affected at short notice. As a result, Port Vale have pushed back their game against Bradford to next Wednesday evening, a game that had already been postponed once this season.
Before their trip to Burslem, Bradford will look to continue their strong home record against relegation-threatened Leyton Orient. After their West Yorkshire rivals, Huddersfield Town, dropped out of the play-off places this week, the Bantams will be determined to avoid the same fall off. A six-point gap to the Terriers, with a game in hand, will mean that Alexander won’t be sweating just yet.