Jamie Walker stakes claim in competitive Bantams midfield

That was Graham Alexander’s view as the Scot made the most of his first league start of the season.

Walker’s front-foot performance highlighted the competition for places in City’s midfield – a battle that the manager is happy to encourage.

Alex Pattison and Antoni Sarcevic had begun the campaign as the two “number eights” for the Bantams.

Sarcevic’s injury then gave Bobby Pointon a chance at Grimsby – before Alexander made a double change at the weekend with Walker paired with Clarke Oduor.

“I haven’t got a favourite two in those positions,” admitted the City boss. “I think it’s there for anyone to grab hold of.

“The competition is really strong and I’m delighted with what we have there because I think all the players can do something else in a different position.

“Jamie can play up front or Clarke at left wing-back. Patto can play the six or the eight.

“We’ve got lads who play elsewhere as well but we’ve always got to have a strong midfield with good, fit footballers and the competition is good.”

City triggered a one-year option to keep Walker after failing to come to an agreement on a new deal during the summer.

But he has had to bide his time in the opening weeks of the League Two season with just three appearances from the bench before Saturday. Alexander was delighted with the 31-year-old’s response.

“I thought Jamie was superb in his work ethic, turning over the ball and his quality on it. That’s more like the Jamie Walker we know.

“He’s had to wait for his opportunity but that’s the way (to respond).

“I thought he was excellent last Tuesday (in the EFL Trophy) with the amount of duels he won.

“We were coming off the Grimsby game when we didn’t compete at any level at all.

“We spoke to them at training the following Monday and said that it was an open market for anyone who wants to run and work.

“I thought Jamie showed that in an abundance on Tuesday and certainly did it again at the weekend.

“We know what we’ve got as a player in Jamie. There are other players there that I feel are really high quality as well.

Alex Pattison shows his delight at the final whistle on Saturday (Image: Tom Pearson)

“If they keep pushing each other to get better, then it’s better for them, better for the team and better for us.”

Pointon came on for Oduor five minutes before Andy Cook’s winner and Alexander felt he also made a difference.

“I thought we needed a little bit more control and Bobby gave us that when he came on on the left-hand side with a little bit of combination with Tyreik (Wright).

“We just needed to look after the ball better and give ourselves a breather and more composure.

“The other players responded to that and we just had better possession. We used the ball better when we were in the attacking areas and we could have had one or two more goals easily when we were overloading, three v two and two v ones.

“We’ve just got to get a bit better on that because the way we press, I think we’re going to turn the ball over a few times and we’ve got to be really clinical.”

Fifth-placed City are two points behind leaders Doncaster after bouncing back from the painful defeat at Grimsby the week before. Alexander felt the difference in performance had been “night and day”.

He added: “We’re not at a level where we don’t have to compete.

“You talk about the best teams in the land Man City and Liverpool. They are the fiercest competitors as well.

“They don’t just rest on what quality they’ve got. They know that football’s a physical sport and if you don’t compete, you can get beaten by anyone.

“Last week was a harsh lesson for us to understand that. I think the boys have picked up the baton and we got our rewards for it.”

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