Bradford City v Crawley Town preview: Reds look to dent Bantams' play-off aspirations

Crawley Town start their final six League Two games with a trip to Valley Parade on Tuesday evening to face a Bradford City side who are looking to sneak into a play-off place.
Action from last season's clash between Crawley Town and Bradford City. Picture by Derek MartinAction from last season's clash between Crawley Town and Bradford City. Picture by Derek Martin
Action from last season's clash between Crawley Town and Bradford City. Picture by Derek Martin

The Bantams are currently three points off the play-offs in 11th place but it’s very unlikely they could end up in the play-offs by the end of the night.

It’s been a remarkable turnaround by Bradford since Mark Trueman and Conor Sellars took charge earlier in the season.

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Bradford looked a mile off the play-offs before Trueman and Sellars took over but the pair, who were previously involved in the academy at Bradford, have created a wonderful partnership.

Their good recruitment in January has certainly helped their upturn of form, signing the likes of Andy Cook, Charles Vernam, Danny Rowe and Niall Canavan.

They’ve put together a very good squad that, if they fall short of promotion this season, will have a very good chance next season.

There is still a chance they could go up this season as they are in good form at the business end of their season,.

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They’re unbeaten in their last four games but it’s their home record that is particularly impressive.

The Bantams haven’t lost at Valley Parade since the start of September and have looked formidable on home soil.

However, Crawley have history of going to Valley Parade and winning with the Reds securing victory nine years ago in ‘the battle of Bradford’.

The Red Devils won that one 2-1 but saw a massive brawl break after the game, which saw five players sent off after the game, three for Bradford and two for Crawley.

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It looks as though Crawley’s season has fizzled out into a mid-table finish, which at the start of the season wouldn’t have seemed as bad as it does now.

The Reds have perhaps become victims of their own success, with the results around Christmas massively increasing people’s expectations.

If Crawley finish strongly they can easily make the top half, which would be deemed a successful season, especially adding the FA Cup run and the transfer of star man Max Watters.

The Reds will be looking to get this top half finish and a positive result at Bradford would certainly help them towards achieving this.