Bradford 1 Accrington Stanley 2: Stuart McCall wants quick response after exit
Bradford have the chance to recover quickly at Morecambe on Wednesday followed by Rochdale at home on Saturday.
However, the Bantams manager could not hide his disappointment after seeing Accrington knock City out of a cup competition for the second time this season – they also knocked City out of the Football League Cup in the first round after a marathon penalty shoot-out in August.
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Hide AdMcCall had no complaints at the result. “We got what we deserved. We are in November and this is first time I can say I have been disappointed with the performance and the result. Even when we got back to 1-1, we didn’t show urgency. We looked a bit slow and lethargic. We didn’t have any spark.
“We had a couple of opportunities in the first half we should have done better with, but, all over the park, Accrington won more key battles than us. You cannot win every game – it’s how you bounce back that counts.”
Accrington went in front after 30 minutes through Romuald Boco’s near-post header from Sean McConnville’s corner.
City equalised in the72nd minute when Matthew Kilgallon headed home substitute Billy Clarke’s corner, but the visitors booked their place in the second round eight minutes later when Jordan Clark scored the winner with an angled drive.
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Hide AdBradford City: Doyle, Darby, McArdle, N Clarke, Kilgallon, Marshall (B Clarke 62), Devine, Dieng, Morais (Law 62), Vuckic (Hiwula 45), Hanson. Unused substitutes: Sattelmaier, Vincelot, Knight-Percival, Hudson.
Accrington Stanley: Parish, Pearson, Hughes, Beckles, Clark (McCartan 84, Hewitt 90), Brown, Gornell, McConville, Boco, Lacey, Conneely. Unused substitutes: Chapman, Taylor-Fletcher, Ogle, Sykes, Kee.
Referee: G Salisbury (Preston).
Man of the match: James Hanson.