By Jason McKeown

And now you really can feel the breath of Luton Town on the back of your neck. The sticky Kenilworth Road mud has sunk Bradford City closer to the play off chasing pack that is headed up by the Hatters, who by winning here are now only four points behind the Bantams. City have growing cause to keep glancing over their shoulders, having now lost six of their last 10 games. Considering they had suffered only two defeats in their first 19 league matches this season – from a distance, it looks like a collapse.

Comfort can at least be taken from a performance here that showed fight, even if endeavour was undermined by a lack of quality when it really mattered. This was not a repeat of the recent Huddersfield and Lincoln horror shows. City were bettered for sure, but did not look a level behind their hosts. They kept going right to the very end, and as a minimum that’s all you can ask.

Still, they can have few complaints about the outcome. Luton played well, producing some lovely flowing football that at times left City chasing shadows. January loan signing Kasey Palmer sat in front of the back four in a 4-1-4-1 set-up and was the best player on the park. No starting player had anywhere near as high of a pass success rate as Palmer, who routinely broke up City attacks and set Luton on their way.

Doncaster had played the same formation last week but neglected to attend to the Bantams’ strengths. Luton did not make the same mistake, crowding out the space around Max Power and Jenson Metcalfe. They doubled up on Josh Neufville and Ibou Touray. They pressed and harried City off the ball, and wide players Shayden Morris and Gideon Kodua made the width of Kenilworth Road count. Luton players kept pulling City defenders out of position by taking them into areas they didn’t want to be, while team-mates cunningly exploited the space this created.

At times it wasn’t pretty for City, but at least they hung in there. They made a game of it. The issue? They lacked a punch of their own. A front three of Kayden Jackson, Paul Mullin and Tyreik Wright were starved of service, with only Wright having any meaningful impact. It was a sobering reminder that as much as the arrival of Jackson and Mullin has been welcomed, it does not, on its own, fix the attacking problems.

And there really are attacking problems. This would prove to be another City first half in which they failed to register a shot on target, just like the recent defeats to Cardiff, Huddersfield and Lincoln. Sub Stephen Humphrys did score very late on. But it was the only time City found the back of the net. And that means they’ve still only scored more than one goal in a game three times since mid-October – the 2-0 success over Reading just before Christmas, the Boxing Day triumph over nine-men Wigan, and the early January 2-1 victory at Blackpool.

The personnel has changed, but the same problems remain. City simply are not enough of an attacking threat right now. Their outgunned midfield and double-marked wing-backs cannot provide adequate ammunition for the front three. Mullin especially cut a hugely frustrated figure. No starting player on either side had as few touches of the ball as the Wrexham loanee’s 15.

In soggy conditions, City toiled hard and started the game reasonably well. A Touray low cross into the box saw Metcalfe blast over from a good position. Wright latched onto a corner and shot just wide with a first-time strike. Last week’s match-winner also embarked on a superb solo run, beating players for fun as he drove from near the corner flag to the middle of the box. But his shot at the end hit Jackson, and bounced harmlessly away.

It was tame compared to the goal threat at the other end. Jordan Clark had the game’s first meaningful effort with a shot that deflected off Aden Baldwin and into the arms of Sam Walker. Clark would later smack the crossbar with a lobbed effort from a tight angle.

At one point Morris robbed Curtis Tilt of the ball and ran through, leading to the City defender tripping him in desperation. With defensive cover around, Tilt was only booked, but it underlined the less-than-exemplary efforts of a City defence struggling with Luton’s movement.

And that’s where the breakthrough came from. Some excellent build-up play allowed Luton to pass their way through City’s midfield before Kodua picked out 18-year-old Jake Richards, who hit a superb low, angled drive from the edge of the box. A quality goal, though the Bantams will not feel great about the manner in which they were opened up.

Richards played in the number 10 role, which has so often of late been a problem for the Bantams. From Cardiff’s David Turnbull and Huddersfield’s Marcus Harness, both of whom scored against City, to Lincoln’s Kevin Street, who was an absolute handful, City keep coming up against opponents who play with one striker and a packed midfield who break forward in support. It has been difficult for City’s back three, who in some ways are over-stacked in terms of direct opponents, but are left struggling to support an overrun midfield and get pulled out of position when trying to stop attacking midfielders like Richards.

City’s back three approach has been so successful that it will take a lot for Graham Alexander to move away from it. But recent events suggest he may want to at least consider it. There is a habitual gap between City’s midfield and defence, and opponents continue to exploit it. If three defenders are consistently occupied by one forward while midfielders are outnumbered elsewhere, it suggests resources could perhaps be spread more effectively. Maybe.

Luton’s breakthrough goal certainly affected City, who limped to half-time fortunate not to concede again. A Neufville mistake allowed Clark in, and his shot was deflected over. From the resulting corner, Teden Mengi fired just wide after a scramble.

The second half brought no City changes, but they started much brighter. Metcalfe and Power pressed higher up the pitch. Neufville and Touray were braver in taking players on. A brilliant Wright cross was begging to be headed home, but no one gambled. A City corner. Then another. Then a throw in level with the box. Then a free kick won out wide. Lots of balls into the area. Lots of hope. Though no meaningful chance on goal.

And it all counted for nothing when Luton went up the other end and scored a second on 55 minutes. Metcalfe was dispossessed by Richards, allowing Clark to run into space. The long-serving midfielder picked out Morris, who cut inside Neufville and struck a low effort that deflected off Baldwin and past the helpless Walker.

The goal deflated City once again, while Luton’s chests puffed out further. They played some nice football, passing their way around the Bantams with ease. Perhaps the biggest factor in slowing them down was themselves. Manager Jack Wilshere made changes, but the players introduced appeared to weaken their momentum.

City made their own subs, including swapping the entire forward line on the hour. On came the fit-again Antoni Sarcevic, Humphrys and deadline-day arrival Ethan Wheatley. The latter nearly had a dream debut when he was played through on goal within two minutes. But his one-on-one effort was utterly tame and no problem for goalkeeper Josh Keeley. Still – a shot on target!

Another City attack saw a Sarcevic shot blocked, from which Luton counter-attacked and Kodua should have made it 3-0 after skipping past Baldwin, only to see his weak effort easily saved. It became a recurring theme. Reasonable City pressure came to nothing, followed by Luton counter-attacks and near misses. Sub Isaiah Jones was especially wasteful when clean through.

The game drifted, but it never completely went away from City. Bobby Pointon came on for Matt Pennington. Nahki Wells was introduced and booed by the visiting fans. Lee Evans made his second City debut, replacing Neufville, and the Bantams finished the game with Pointon and Metcalfe as their wing-backs. It was bold and pointed to a never-say-die approach that bodes well.

Perhaps if a powerful Humphrys shot in the 86th minute had found the net rather than being well saved by Keeley, the closing stages would have been fascinating. Humphrys did eventually score when played through by Sarcevic and finishing well. But it came in minute 90+6. And unlike Fleetwood, this time there was no fairytale ending, despite a late corner from which Metcalfe blasted over.

At moments like these, it is worth remembering just how far we have come. At this exact point two years ago, Luton Town had just drawn 4-4 with Newcastle at St James’ Park in the Premier League, days after thrashing Brighton 4-0. Bradford City, meanwhile, were languishing 18th in League Two, having gone eight league games without a win. The two clubs were worlds apart not long ago, yet here we are disappointed to lose to a Luton side estimated to be earning £40 million in parachute payments. And we’re still above them in the league.

It is some going from the Bantams.

But there is still plenty to worry about. Underlying performances have fallen off a cliff in recent weeks, with City sitting in the bottom half of the League One form table over the last ten games. A win for Wycombe, coupled with Luton’s triumph, leaves City in growing danger of losing a top-six position that has been theirs all season.

Realistically, holding on to a play-off place must be the aim for the final 17 games. City have just completed their toughest remaining away fixture, and after Stockport’s visit a week on Tuesday, they will have faced all of the current top seven (apart from Bolton at home in the penultimate game of the season). Six losses from 10 is not great, of course, but it has been a brutally tough run of games – and it’s almost over.

On paper, the run-in looks kinder.

Yet if City are to complete the job, they must address the drop-off in underlying performances. They need to improve on a return of just two clean sheets in 10 games. They need to become more potent: since scoring 35 goals in their first 17 matches, they have managed just 16 in the subsequent 20. Grant McCann curiously gave City a week off last Saturday by failing to counter their strengths, but week in, week out, the same tactics are deployed to stop them – and lately, they have been working.

We should not lose sight of what we have achieved. The fact Graham Alexander was linked with the vacant Blackburn Rovers job is a reminder of his superb body of work, and how it will be viewed enviously by others. Special things continue to happen in BD8, but there are increasing signs City must evolve to sustain their success. If they don’t, that breathing on the Bantams’ necks will only grow more uncomfortable.

Categories: Match Reviews

Tags: 2025/26, BCAFC, League One, Luton Town