CITY have rejected a League One bid for Jake Young.

The T&A understands that the club knocked back an offer because it did not match their valuation of the striker.

Young, who has been the subject of interest from a couple of third-tier teams, was not involved in Saturday’s shock 4-2 home loss to Crawley.

Graham Alexander revealed that he had planned to include him after the Bantams cut short Young’s loan from Swindon.

But the 22-year-old pulled up in training on Friday complaining of soreness and that he was unable to carry on.

It was the first league game Young has missed this season – other than Swindon’s visit to Valley Parade in October when he was not allowed to be involved.

Should he appear for City, Young would not be able to feature for anyone else because of the rule that you can only play for two clubs in one season.

“I can only wait and see what happens,” said Alexander, when asked about the speculation over Young’s future.

“I’m not in charge of him – other than him being a contracted player.

“He’s had a good season so far. He’s played a lot of games.

“If he was fit and available, my intention was to include him. Unfortunately, an injury has ruled him out.

“If he’s fit any time soon, then he’ll be in my plans. But I can’t pick injured players and I never will do.”

Alexander insisted the Young scenario had no impact in Saturday’s sudden implosion which saw City toss away a winning position to concede three in the closing stages.

“I don’t think it had any effect. Players always talk but there’s a lot of experience in that changing room.

“They know what goes on. They’ve been around transfer windows season in, season out.

“I wouldn’t say that had any impact on how we performed or how we trained.

“This is what January brings. It brings little sideshows that you have to deal with.

“I think we’ve got enough good players in there to stay focused on what they have to do to win games of football.”

READ MORE: City taught 'real harsh lesson' by Crawley

City have lost back-to-back games in 2024 since their winning run was ended by Crewe on New Year’s Day. But Alexander’s faith in the team has not dipped.

“I’ve been in the game long enough,” he added. “I was a highly-motivated player but there were games when I didn’t reach the standards I should.

“I wasn’t a person who forgot about my little bad runs of form but I knew I could come good again. That’s what the team will do.

“I believe in these players. You don’t win six games on the bounce through luck.

“We’ve shot ourselves in the foot with the mistake we made to give Crewe the lead and the two goals we conceded.

“You can’t say the opposition has dominated us and deservedly won.

“Crawley were clinical with their opportunities and we weren’t with ours. It was a tale of both boxes.

“It’s not just a defensive one for me that we’ve conceded four. I think we should have scored more goals and had enough opportunities to equalise and take the lead well before we did.”