Ex-Bantams striker Omari Patrick faces old club at Tranmere

Patrick faces his former club again tomorrow in Tranmere colours after leaving Sutton for the Wirral in the summer.

He is currently Tranmere’s top scorer with four goals – but has not hit the net since August.

Patrick, who spent two-and-a-half seasons at Valley Parade, has a bit of history with City since from his time with Carlisle and taunted the away fans when he scored in one game after getting stick.

But he has put that behind him as Tranmere focus on ending a run of five league outings without a win.

“When I first left, I felt I had a lot to prove,” admitted Patrick. “There was a lot of noise and a lot of things happened in the background that fans probably don’t really know about.

“It was more about proving (myself) to the coaches and staff that were there.

“But I’m over that now. I’ve had games against them so many times.

“I’ve scored against them before, they’ve beaten us before. It’s like a back and forth.

“But now I’m just focused on winning. All that stuff is in the past for me now.

“If they want to carry it on, that’s up to the fans.”

Patrick was with City when they were relegated to League Two in 2019 – although he spent half that season on loan at Yeovil and made only one brief sub appearance.

But he knows the weight of expectation that remains on the team.

“They have aspirations to be higher,” he told Tranmere’s club website. “They probably feel as a club that they need to be a lot higher than they are.

“When I was with them in League One, they felt that way. So it will be even more so in League Two.

“They put on a good performance (on Monday) so they’re always going to be ready. Their fans will always have expectations.

“Being a player there, as I have been before, you want to do everything you can to make the fans. Otherwise they can have a bad turn.”

Omari Patrick and Carlisle teammates wave at the City fans (Image: Tom Pearson)

Tranmere boss Nigel Adkins has more competition for places as injuries ease. He is expecting a physical contest.

He said: “They get the ball forward, they cross the ball as good as anybody and obviously Andy Cook, an ex-Tranmere player, is a massive threat and he looks fit.

“We’ve done some work on the training ground in trying to put ourselves in a position to be able to deal with that as best we can.

“But even if you prepare it, you’ve still got to be ready and it will be tough.”

Graham Alexander has only managed against him once – a 2-0 Scunthorpe win at Sheffield United in 2016 which proved to be Adkins’ last at the Bramall Lane helm before he was sacked four days later.

But he has a lot of respect for his Tranmere opposite number.

“I know Nigel and he’s a great football guy,” said the City chief. “His CV is really strong, so they are in good hands.

“I remember playing against Tranmere in the Championship a lot of times for Preston.

“It’s a big club in that part of the world with obviously two giants on their doorstep. But they’ve certainly held their own over the years.

“Every club has the right to be ambitious. It’s not just down to the chosen few to be successful.”

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