Graham Alexander's reaction as Bantams draw with Wimbledon

Lewis Richards and Joe Adams added to the lengthening casualty list in the goalless clash at Valley Parade this afternoon.

City were already without three centre halves and Jamie Walker, who was ruled out with a bruised knee from the Walsall defeat.

Alexander said: “We’re hopefully getting him back next week but we’ve been stripped bare – down to the bare bones.

“But that’s what makes me even prouder of the players.

“We’ve lost five or six players in the last two or three games but we’re still there competing, winning on Tuesday and getting a point today.

“It’s great credit to the players to step up with all those blows going against us and still be positive.

“All those things have been thrown at us but that’s a really strong point and at the end of the season we’ll see the value of that.

“If we want to put runs of results together, which we’re trying to do at home, there are going to be draws in there.

“But you’d take the draws in certain circumstances. We had one against Salford when we did score the goal and should have won 1-0 and this game when we had so many players dropping out.”

Richards, making his first league start since April 1, was taken off at half-time. Tyreik Wright reverted to left back as Adams came on – but the Wigan loanee lasted just 18 minutes before he limped away.

Alexander added: “Lewis came off holding his hamstring but he got a knee in the back of his leg as well.

“With where we are at the moment with players, certainly defenders, we didn’t want to risk it any further.

“Fingers crossed, it’s not the muscle and more of a dead leg.

Left back Lewis Richards had to come off at half-time (Image: Thomas Gadd)

“Joe came on because he played exceptionally well on Tuesday and unfortunately, he landed awkwardly on his knee from the incident in the box when the lad took him out a little bit.

“He’s gutted because he looked really bright in that position.”

Alexander felt City should have been awarded a penalty for the challenge on Adams.

“He’s in front of the opponent who has run straight into him. I don’t think the opponent meant to do it, but he was running back at such a pace, he just went straight into the back of Joe.

“He’s not touched the ball and took Joe out. It’s a difficult one to take.”

City had a big let-off when Myles Hippolyte, a former trialist at the club under Gary Bowyer, saw his shot hit both posts without crossing the line.

Alexander added: “They were two competitive teams and physically it was a real tough game for us. I thought the players were excellent with how they defended against it.

“Apart from the shot that hit both posts, Sam (Walker) didn’t have a save to make.

“That’s great from our perspective because we’ve been hit hard with a lot of players missing and we’ve lost two more today.

“I was really pleased for the players to be in control for the majority of that game and finish the stronger team.”