Bantams frustrated by injury - and post - against Rotherham

JACK Shepherd hobbled away as the City injury curse struck yet again at Valley Parade tonight.

Shepherd became the fourth left-sided player on the sidelines when he went off before half-time in the 1-0 defeat to Rotherham in the final EFL Trophy group game.

Both sides were already through – but the result means that City will be away in next month’s round of 32 after finishing second.

Shepherd’s early departure overshadowed the outcome to leave Graham Alexander once again scratching his head over filling defensive holes.

He would have also have wondered what his team had to do to score against their League One opponents after hitting the same post three times in the second half.

It had been nine weeks since City’s last Trophy outing – the 3-0 win at Mansfield that rubberstamped their qualification.

Alexander again shuffled his pack with six changes from the weekend. But that was less than in the previous two Trophy games as injuries continued to limit his options.

Paul Huntington was handed a full City debut – his first start in seven months - in a back three that also included Cheick Diabate.

Clarke Oduor came in for the sidelined Lewis Richards, although he lined up as an inverted wing-back on the right with Brad Halliday, captain in Richie Smallwood’s absence, going left.

Corry Evans took the holding role with Smallwood on the bench. Tyler Smith partnered Olly Sanderson up front as Andy Cook was given a bit of a breather.

The covers had been left on as long as possible to protect the pitch from the plummeting temperatures but there was a worry that the surface could freeze up as the game went on – as was the case in the Liverpool under-21s game last season.

The biting cold came as a shock for the fans who had bothered to leave their front rooms. Winter had very much arrived for the season.

Games with Rotherham usually have a snap to them, particularly when Steve Evans is in the opposing dug-out.

Predictably, there was not the same edge about this one – although at least the crowd of 1,640 beat the paltry 931 who watched the Millers’ 3-0 away victory in the same competition on their last visit seven years ago.

And Rotherham were straight on the front foot as they grabbed a fifth-minute lead from their first corner.

City were too loose when the ball found its way straight back to taker Joe Hungbo. Shepherd hung off him and was beaten along the byline before Hungbo found Shaun McWilliams to nod in at the back post.

The Bantams almost hit back from a corner of their own. Huntington won the first contact to knock the ball towards goal where Smith stuck out a foot but flicked it past the post.

City sucked up the early blow quite well with Jamie Walker a prominent figure going forward. He fed Smith in a promising position on the edge of the box but the striker’s poor touch took the chance away.

Rotherham’s dangerous left-winger Hungbo apart, the Bantams had looked the better side in the first half hour as they searched for a way back.

Shepherd, the only genuinely left-sided defender currently fit in the squad, went down worryingly.

He tried to carry on but was clearly not moving smoothly and hobbled off to make way for Neill Byrne on 39 minutes.

Sanderson struck an effort well over the bar and Oduor volleyed straight at keeper Dillon Phillips. But Smith had made little impression on the Rotherham backline.

It was no surprise that he did not reappear for the second half as Vadaine Oliver was thrown into battle.

Colin Doyle was called into action to tip over Jordan Hugill’s header before Walker held off McWilliams pulling him back to drag a shot wide from distance.

Walker went for goal again after Cameron Humphreys fouled Oliver 25 yards out but could not find the target.

City thought they had levelled on the hour when Bobby Pointon found Oliver in front of goal. His initial header was saved and the follow-up bounced against the inside of the post before McWilliams bundled clear.

Smallwood and Jay Benn came on for Evans and Diabate for the final 20 minutes. Smallwood went down in the box but referee Jacob Miles ignored the City penalty shouts.

Cook was then summoned from the bench to replace Sanderson – and he was denied by the same post that had frustrated Oliver.

Quickly getting Benn’s cutback out from under his feet, the number nine’s snapshot cannoned back into play off the woodwork with Phillips beaten.

And Walker made it a hat-trick of near-misses from the right-hand post with a stoppage-time volley that pinged away.