Bradford City new boy Callum Johnson feels the club ‘just ran out of time’ last season in their bid for promotion and has called on them to take that late momentum they built up into a strong start to the 2024/25 League Two season.
This was ideal for Johnson’s former team, Mansfield, as the right back was a vital member of the team that finished the regular season undefeated in League Two until November 25.
They both had a great season finale, as did the Bantams, and although that was enough to put Mansfield above the automatic promotion threshold in third place, City almost missed their play-off target.
Johnson pondered, “You never know what would have happened from there. Bradford probably would have made it into the play-offs if there had been one or two more games.”
“It all comes down to timing and starting a run at the appropriate time
“Take a look at Doncaster; they were near the bottom of the table before Christmas, and they went on an incredible run to make it to the play-offs.
“Obviously, injuries can have an impact, but success is more about hitting the right streak and less about luck—rather, it’s about everything coming into place.”I watched Bradford closely last season, particularly since I know a few of the guys that play for the team.”We’re hoping that the following season will bring us good fortune and support from the public, allowing us to start strong and succeed quickly.”If we succeed in doing that, it ought to be beneficial for us.”
Johnson also speaks from experience, having watched Mansfield win their first 18 league games in the previous season.
They never dropped out of the top four after mid-October, and they earned their automatic promotion slot by finishing eight points ahead of MK Dons in fourth place.
Johnson, who was only 21 at the time, had a significant role in the Accrington team that won League Two in 2017–18, so that was not his first rodeo either.
Prior to February, Stanley didn’t seem like the defending champs, but a 15-game winning streak helped them rise to the top in the latter part of the season.
Johnson said, “We got the momentum of winning games and we knew we were going to do that at Mansfield, and it was similar to what we had at Accrington.”
“We were always confident going into games when I was playing at Mansfield in the first half of the season, and we just maintained that momentum after I was sidelined due to injury.”
“It was almost like that the two times I was promoted out of League Two—we were going into games thinking we were going to win them.”Even in instances where you perform poorly, as Mansfield demonstrated in January shortly after my injury, losing four straight games, we were confident in our team’s experience and composition to bounce back.”
And Mansfield benefited greatly from their unwavering belief last term, as they consistently appeared to prevail when it counted.
The most noteworthy of them was their incredible 4-1 victory against MK Dons, promotion rivals, in the middle of April. This win effectively guaranteed them a spot in the top three and consigned their hosts to an ultimately fruitless attempt to qualify for the play-offs.
“Throughout a season, you’ll always find yourself with six-pointers, and we always seemed to come out on top in our must-win games,” Johnson stated.
“We won at Stockport in a pivotal game on New Year’s Day, and we did the double over Notts County when they were flying, including on TV when they were leading.
“The one that stands out is the mid-April triumph at MK Dons.
“After winning such games, you reflect on them at the conclusion of the season and realise how significant they were. They were nearly games you had to win.
“You never know what would have occurred for us with automatic promotion if MK Dons had defeated us in that game.
“It was important that we were on the right side of all the big games last season.”
Leave a Reply