Marc Bridge-Wilkinson claimed today he found out he'd been axed by City from another manager.

The silky midfielder has not been offered a new deal as the decks are cleared for Stuart McCall's rebuilding plans.

But Bridge-Wilkinson was upset that he was only told the news second hand when a rival club got in touch.

"It was a disappointing way to find out," he admitted. "I was expecting somebody from the club to give me a call first and it left a sour taste.

"I was away on holiday and when I got back and switched on my mobile, there was a message from another manager saying he was sorry it hadn't worked out with Bradford.

"Obviously David Wetherall had mentioned that he had made recommendations to the chairman about who the club may keep and I knew the situation but it still came as a bit of a shock that nobody tried to contact me about it first."

Bridge-Wilkinson, one of Colin Todd's best signings, played 95 times for City and notched 14 goals - and the team never lost when he scored. But he was forced to sit out the last rites of City's relegation to League Two after damaging knee ligaments at Scunthorpe.

Bridge-Wilkinson spent a month wearing a leg brace and missed the final six matches.

"It was a bad way for it to end because I could do nothing to help Bradford's situation. Being out there on the pitch, you can try to do something about it but unfortunately these sort of injuries happen.

"It was a disappointing way to end because I had a good couple of years at the club and I really hope they can come straight back up again.

"I just think the problems last season were down to the squad being too thin on the ground. Colin Todd managed to bring in four loan signings at the beginning who did well but there was not enough strength in depth.

"When we got injuries it started to show that the squad wasn't big enough to cope. It was ridiculous the amount of loan signings who came in.

"Some of them would come in for one game and not play again for the rest of the month. There was no stability because the team was changed so much and you couldn't get that consistency level in the performances."

Bridge-Wilkinson has been linked with a return to former club Port Vale, although he insists no talks have taken place.

"Steve Schumacher told me about a story in the paper but I haven't heard anything. I certainly haven't spoken to anybody from there.

"Ideally I'd like to stay in League One but I leave all that to my agent. It's still quite early in the summer.

"The good thing is that I will be ready for pre-season. My fitness levels obviously need building up because I've not been able to do much because of the leg but I've started running again and I'll be fine."

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