After captain Richie Smallwood was sent off early in the tumultuous 5-4 loss to Swindon Town, Bradford City boss Graham Alexander declined to criticise him.
Calum Kavanagh’s brace inside the first ten minutes put City in a strong position to break that trend at a site where they had only won once in nine visits since 2005. However, Smallwood’s dismissal for a harsh challenge on Paul Glatzel changed the afternoon’s mood.
Despite only having a five-minute lead throughout the game, Swindon created numerous openings and scored two goals in the closing minutes to win. Despite this, City managed to score two more goals, with Kavanagh scoring a hat-trick and bringing his season total to 13.
On the red for Smallwood, who will miss the games against Notts County, Chesterfield and Doncaster Rovers, Alexander said: “I think it’s a challenge you see in the middle of the park, week in and week out. I see bookings for certain things, but not even free-kicks for others.
“That’s enough said on that side of the game and I am not going down that ‘rabbit hole’. It’s difficult to be honest and if I can’t be honest, I’d rather not talk.
Alexander verified that George Lapslie and Aden Baldwin were unwell and missed the game. “A bit of illness is going through the squad at the moment,” he continued. At halftime, Patto (Alex Pattison) voiced his displeasure.
Five or six people have been impacted by it as it has been spreading through the squad.
