Bradford City v Crawley: Saunders out to dent Bantams’ play-off bid

Dean Saunders in his Bradford playing days.

Saunders scored the Bantams’ first goal in Premier League football in a victory over Middlesbrough on the opening day of the 1999-2000 season.

Now manager of Crawley, he is also plotting against a fourth Yorkshire club in the last five games.

That sequence began with a jarring 5-0 defeat against his former club Doncaster Rovers, before a resounding win over Barnsley and a draw with Sheffield United last time out.

With Reading to come at home in the FA Cup quarter-final on Saturday, Bradford City could be forgiven for having one eye on that game and the potential windfall of a trip to Wembley.

But getting their promotion bid back on track is the more urgent need after defeats to Swindon and Peterborough in the last two games.

Manager Phil Parkinson said: “Our recent results haven’t been as favourable as we would have liked and we’ll be looking to bounce back with a positive performance on Tuesday.

“We go into the Crawley fixture aiming to stay in touch with the sides in the top six. With that in mind, we’ll be doing all we can to get the right result on Tuesday.”

James Hanson is fit and Felipe Morais (knee) will be rested with Saturday in mind.

Last six games: Bradford City; DWWWDLL Crawley Town WLLWWD.

Referee: D Drysdale (Lincolnshire).

Last time: Bradford City 2 Crawley Town 1; April 26, 2014; League One.