Barrow could secure their spot in the League Two play-offs with a victory over Bradford City tomorrow night.
During their latest runout, the Bluebirds were on the receiving end of a late comeback against Yorkshire side, Doncaster Rovers. The Vikings ran turned around a two-goal deficit to come out 4-2 victorious, thanks to goals from Joe Ironside, Hakeeb Adelakun, and Harrison Biggins.
The Bluebirds went in front on 35 minutes thanks to a sumptuous cross from Robbie Gotts, which was met by the head of Emile Acquah around nine yards out from goal. The Cumbrians doubled their lead just before halftime when Rory Feely headed home his first goal for the club from a corner. But Rovers scored four times in the last 30 minutes to secure victory.
Acquah’s early strike was his second goal in his last two matches, meaning he’s now netted in back-to-back games for the first time since August as he took his gally tally for up to nine the season.
Team News
This will be the final match of George Ray’s suspension meaning he’ll be back in contention for the Mansfield Town game this weekend.
The Opposition
Tuesday’s opposition, Bradford City currently sits in 10th place in the Sky Bet League Two table under the guidance of Graham Alexander.
Bradford is onto their second manager of the season. Since the appointment of Alexander in November 2023, he has gone on to manage 28 league games, winning 12, drawing seven and losing nine. He has since gone on to maintain a win percentage of 43% while averaging 1.54 points per game
In their previous five league encounters, they have picked up 13 points having won four times and drawn once. You’ll have to go all the way back to the 23rd of March to find their last loss when they were on the end of a 3-0 beating to Harrogate Town.
A star player to watch out for his striker and top scorer, Andy Cook. Since joining The Bantams initially on loan in January 2021, he has made 164 appearances and scored 69 goals. This season, Cook has been an influential player to the Yorkshire side, scoring 16 league goals in 39 league appearances whilst creating six assists.
Head-to-Head
Barrow has played Bradford seven times since our return to the EFL, with four of those games ending in victory for the Bluebirds and just two for Bradford.
The previous game between the two sides at Holker Street came in August 2022, on a day in which the Cumbrian side was victorious 3-2 with goals from Ben Whitfield, Josh Kay, and Josh Gordan collecting all three points for the home side.
During that match, the Bluebirds took the lead three times, with Andy Cook and Jake Young scoring for the Yorkshire side.
The two sides have already faced each other this season in November 2023 at Valley Parade when the game ended 1-2 to the Bluebirds on Graham Alexander’s first match in charge of The Bantams. Goals from Dom Telford and George Ray picked up all three points for the Cumbrians as they headed back up to Holker Street and continued an excellent run of form.
Referees
The man in the middle for Tuesday’s fixture is Ross Joyce. Joyce has taken charge of 32 matches this season with all of these games coming across League One and League Two. He has handed out a total of 132 yellow cards in the fixtures he’s officiated and given nine reds.
His last match officiating the Bluebirds during a league game came back in August 2021 when Barrow faced Bristol Rovers at Holker Street. Bristol gained the lead when Sam Nicholson scored minutes before halftime. However, soon after Oliver Banks netted at the other end to ultimately earn a point for the home side.
Alongside Joyce, he will be joined by Alan Clayton and Lewis Raper, who will be assistant referees on Tuesday night. With John Mulligan taking the role of Fourth Official.
Words by Dylan Whitbread
