City's play-off hopes vanish

So Stuart McCall's got his answer.

Before kick-off, he had posed the question whether City could back up their Boxing Day win with another two and raise outside hopes of a play-off charge.

Saturday's defeat against a side who seem certain to finish right up there surely put the lid on that.

McCall, as honest in his management as during his playing days, admitted as much afterwards.

"I'm an optimist but also a realist," he said. "I won't chuck in the towel and you never say never but realistically the play-offs are beyond us.

"Teams have got too many points on us and we'd have to improve dramatically."

McCall's thoughts are already turning towards next season. Not that he will take his eye off anything between now and May - even in second, Hereford boss Graham Turner's first objective remains his 54-point survival target - but the battle plans being drawn up from now on will be centred on a full-on assault next term.

That may become evident with any transfer dealings that take place in the next month. Don't expect a flurry of activity - McCall is thinking longer term and it may be wiser to keep some powder dry for early strikes in the off-season.

"We've made enquiries about certain players and have to see what comes about. At present there is no money to go buy anyone and it's probably best to wait to the summer and pick up people then.

"It might just be a case now of getting people in whose contracts are up at the end of the season. That would give us a chance to have a look at them and them at us."

McCall is not blind to City's short-comings. Midfield, in particular, needs beefing up, with better quality on the wings and more muscle down the middle.

How McCall would love to have his own Toumani Diagouraga.

l Continued from facing page The 20-year-old from Paris, borrowed on a season-long loan from Watford, is the League Two version of Patrick Vieira; tall; powerful and full of running. For the second time this season, he ensured Hereford bossed the Bantams in the middle of the park.

It is no coincidence that the division's top two - Hereford and the MK Dons - are stocked with six-foot plus players. As McCall puts it, this is the land of the Giants and City are sometimes in danger of getting squashed.

Half a season in League Two has taught the Bantams boss how he needs to improve his side's physical presence as much as anything.

"We aren't the biggest and strongest team in the world," he admitted, "and that's something we're going to have to look at.

"But that's my job in the next six months to strengthen areas I think need strengthening. Come the first day of next season, this will be my team.

"Look at the first-half performance and there was not a lot in it against a team who are second in the league. We know on our game we're a match for most sides but we've got to bring in people who are better than we've got - and we will do."

Considering the treacherous conditions, both sides served up some decent entertainment. The pitch had to be forked beforehand in front of the Sunwin Stand, where the traditional drainage problems left players negotiating Chesterfield-esque patches.

Passes inevitably got held up by the surface water and it became a battle to keep your feet in parts.

Omar Daley, operating in a striker's role McCall now sees as his best position, couldn't manage to stand up as he tried to close down Clint Easton. The Jamaican went flying, as did Hereford's left winger, and referee Graham Laws infuriated the crowd for the first of many occasions by awarding an away free-kick.

It was an identical spot to where Daley had given away a foul against Wycombe which had led to a soft first goal. And history repeated itself as City failed to react when Simon Johnson's set-piece stuck in the stodge six yards out, allowing Theo Robinson to score.

City responded positively, with chances falling to Daley and Kyle Nix before Laws had a fuming McCall marching up the touchline in despair after ignoring a WWE body slam on Daley by the corner flag.

Scott Phelan, deputising for the suspended Paul Evans, was bundled down in the corner of the box and got nothing; while another wild lunge on Daley brought only a ticking-off for the Hereford offender.

McCall's mood hardly improved when Tom Penford's day was cut short by a bang on the head, forcing another reshuffle in midfield.

It didn't help that much of Hereford's bright counter-attacking was prompted by the pace of Simon Johnson, a player McCall had let go a week into pre-season.

Johnson claimed his second assist six minutes before the break as City were undone from a well-rehearsed corner. As the kick came over, centre half Dean Beckwith came charging in from nowhere to climb above a surprised David Wetherall and thunder his first league goal inside the near post.

But credit to City for finding an immediate comeback.

Wetherall's downward header was saved on the line by Wayne Brown but the Hereford keeper had no chance with the skipper's close-range thump after Daley's skidding shot had slipped away from his grasp.

City were back in it - until the game swung permanently back in Hereford's favour in the first minute of stoppage time.

When sub Alex Rhodes stormed to the byline and cut back to pick out Peter Thorne, it looked a certain equaliser. But Lee Collins got in a crucial block as the net beckoned.

How crucial was proved as Hereford broke from one end to the other, where Phelan gave away a stupid free-kick beside the penalty area.

City cleared it only as far as Johnson and they seemed to freeze when he hoofed it back into the danger zone. Beckwith held off Wetherall, ignoring home pleas for both a foul and offside, and Trevor Benjamin was all on his own to blast number three. The game was up.

At least the fans stuck with them through a fruitless second half, earning praise from the hugely-experienced Turner. He also has no doubts that McCall has what it takes to crack the management game.

He said: "The only advice I'd give Stuart is that you never stop learning. But if he sticks to his beliefs then he will make a good manager. He's had a good career and worked with some good managers and I'm sure he will be a success."

• Start or join a debate on this issue in our online forum - Click here