GRAHAM Alexander reckons Andy Cook had become a “ball of frustration” with City’s sticky patch.

Alexander benched the striker for Saturday’s goalless draw with Wimbledon, although he did throw him on for the final half hour.

Cook had scored only once since the last league win before Christmas and was sent off after two late bookings in the EFL Trophy win over Doncaster – ruling him out for the semi-final against Wycombe.

The City boss felt Cook’s exasperation at the club’s current plight was getting the better of him.

“I think Cooky needed a little reset,” said Alexander. “I spoke to him at length on Friday and he was really good about it.

“I watched him in the changing room before the game and he was really positive with the players supporting them.

“I thought he looked sharper with his movement when he came off the bench.

“I said to him that he looked like a ball of frustration all the time at many different things.

“Sometimes you just need a brain dump and then go with a fresh start.

“We can’t be a team that doesn’t give opportunities for performance or keeps going with the same line-up. We have to try things to try and win.”

Alexander stressed Cook’s demotion to the bench was not due to his midweek red card.

“Leaving him out was never a punishment for a couple of bookings.

“I got sent off in my own career for much worse things than that. But it probably summed up how he is feeling at the moment.

“We want Cooky to be at his best level. But we have to have a policy here where it’s performance-related as well.

“If we’re not winning and not scoring, then we have to give the opportunity to other people.”

Jake Young played down the middle in Cook’s absence with debutant Calum Kavanagh and Tyler Smith also brought on in the second half with the number nine.

Cook was dropped for the whole of January last season by Mark Hughes – and came back from that five-game absence in explosive scoring form.

Alexander said: “He mentioned that as well.

“This is Bradford City, it’s not a one-man band. We have to make sure that we have a fully-functioning team and then squad.

“I was a player that was desperate to play every game and maybe sometimes I needed a little breather.

“I didn’t like it at the time, didn’t agree but looking back it probably did just help me find an extra three or four per cent.

“I believe that’s all our team needs. That extra three or four per cent in front of goal that will help us turn these draws certainly into wins.”

Alexander is confident Young will be fine after going off with a tight hamstring. He stayed on the floor after a challenge just before being subbed.

“Jake reported a little bit of a tight hamstring at half-time.

“We were conscious of the fact that we lost Tyreik Wright after him not being with us and coming back and playing.

“Jake Young hasn’t been with us for a long time and played.

“It was a precautionary message with him reporting something at half-time. He feels fine now.

“We couldn’t afford with the goal threat and pace we need in the front line to lose another guy who’s got that quality.

“We’ve already lost Tyreik for a few games and we can’t lose Jake as well.

“We were making the sub anyway a minute before he went down. People may have thought it was from that collision but he was coming off.”