Written by Jason McKeown

There are two ways to judge a result like Bradford City’s 0-0 Tuesday night draw away to Burton Albion.

There is the cold calculation. It was a point away from home. Another clean sheet (making it six in the last seven league games). Another game undefeated that means they haven’t lost in seven weeks. A decent night’s work. Move on.

Then there is how it felt.

City went into the night top of League One and came out of it third. They have now drawn three of their last four league games. They’ve scored only 10 goals in 11 league matches. Against that backdrop, a perfectly respectable away point inevitably carries a slight sense of opportunity missed.

That was the overriding feeling as we filed out of the Pirelli Stadium and into the October night. City huffed, puffed and dominated for large spells. It was a pretty good performance – especially in the second half that saw them rack up 12 efforts on goal, win seven corners and have 58% of the ball. Burton were pushed back and forced to defend for large spells.

City knocked at the door. Antoni Sarcevic’s fierce, deflected drive looked destined to fly into the back of the net, but Burton’s excellent goalkeeper Corey Addai produced a wonder save. Substitute Adam Phillips found space in front of goal and was picked out by Ibou Touray and Nick Powell, only to glance his header wide of goal when he had to at least find the target. George Pratt had a first-half header cleared off the line following a well-worked corner.

They were good chances, on a night where City carved out a good number of decent opportunities. You have to go all the way back to the early September home defeat to Cambridge for the last time the Bantams registered more attempts on goal than the 18 they mustered here.

But the harsh truth was that they lacked that clinical edge to make it count. Burton scrapped and were good value for the point, but their limitations were evident too. City’s return to the top of the league at the weekend – and indeed the whole point of bringing in Michael Duff to continue, rather than dismantle, Graham Alexander’s work – underlines the big opportunity they have to push for promotion. And perhaps a side that would finish this season in the automatic spots would have found a way to win a game like this.

Unearthing that extra attacking edge is clearly occupying Duff’s thoughts as he settles into the role. After the goalless draw with Leyton Orient 11 days ago, there was some talk he may tweak formation and go for more of a 3-5-2 set up that has been the cornerstone of much of his previous managerial success. The way in which the subs inspired City’s success over Stevenage on Saturday suggested that it might be less about needing to switch the tactical approach, and more about finding the right combination up front.

But after this second blank in three games, the question of whether Duff needs different personnel or a different shape remains unanswered.

Certainly, no obvious answers were found here in how to unlock the goals in this 3-4-3. Will Swan was rightly rewarded with a start on the right of the front three after his excellent cameo on Saturday. But he found it tough going and failed to make the same impact. Honest endeavour undermined by questionable decision-making.

Jake Beesley was unsurprisingly kept up top and actually had a much better night than his last two performances. This time, he showed a willingness to not just stick to playing down the middle. He ran into channels and drifted into wide positions to support the build up to attacks. When Nick Powell came on, recent history suggested City would get even stronger. But for once, Powell had a quiet game and looked subdued. It’s an unfortunate reality that taking off Beesley has made City better in recent weeks – because of Powell’s brilliance – but here City’s number nine can at least take comfort in the fact his withdrawal did not improve the team.

Bobby Pointon was taken off at the same time as Beesley. The homegrown hero is the only constant of City’s front three from last season to this, but continues to look a few notches below his best. It’s certainly far from his fault. A player who has thrived on close link-up play with the wing-backs and central forward in the 3-4-3 is suffering from Beesley’s tendency to remain centrally positioned, as well as the injury to Tyreik Wright. Ibou Touray again battled away commendably – Pratt was the only player on the field to have more touches than the Gambian international – but lacks the attacking dynamism that makes Pointon, and City, function better.

Stephen Humphrys came on for Pointon and is another who could yet provide part of the answer to City’s attacking puzzle. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the night to find out, with his evening quickly cut short by injury.

It truly is remarkable that City have done as well as they have, so far this season, without Wright and more recently without Josh Neufville. The latter’s right wing-back slot was taken by Corey O’Keeffe here for a full league debut. He showed some good attacking promise and willingness to run at defenders. But for all his flashes of excellence, City inevitably miss what Neufville brings to that side.

Finally there’s Sarcevic, who again let no one down and might have opened the scoring for the second game in a row but for Addai’s wonder save. Yet he is still struggling to exert the full influence we know he can have.

It’s such a curious situation. City’s summer recruitment, and the tweak in the 3-4-3 to have Callum Connolly sitting and Sarcevic pushing on, should have seen them improve their attacking output and possibly slightly weaken them at the other end. But instead, they’ve become even stronger defensively and even less potent going forward.

How to adjust this balance could well define City’s season.

They can keep playing this way and they have every chance of being a top-six contender. The team is full of purpose and identity. They are so organised, so methodical. Matt Pennington and Aden Baldwin again had exceptional games here, while Pratt recovered from a slightly slow start. Initially, Burton were slightly on top with Charlie Webster – so impressive in the Valley Parade fixture last season – again looking a menace. As soon as Connolly and the back three worked through who should pick Webster up and how to close down his space, City took control. Their back three had a vice-like grip on proceedings. They are just incredible.

And on those rare occasions City’s backline is breached, there’s Jon McCracken to save the day. The Scot made a brilliant first half save to keep out a Curtis Tilt header in those early stages where the home side shaded it. In the second 45, McCracken kept out a long-range Webster drive and then a one-on-one attempt from Burton sub Matthew Dennis.

The Dennis chance came on the break and really that was all Burton could offer after City upped the gears in the second half. It was a game of attack vs defence. City pushing on, attacking from both flanks. Burton’s play it out from the back philosophy invited a City press that was characteristically effective. A word on former Bantam Tilt, who looked notably fired up and clashed with some of his old team-mates like Baldwin. He got a bit of stick from the away end, but it was hard not to admire his bravery and dedication for the Burton cause. Tilt was excellent and good luck to him for the rest of the season.

As a whistle-happy and frankly clueless referee Sunny Sukhvir Gill blew the final whistle, there was satisfaction in City’s performance but disappointment that the trip to the East Midlands had not yielded more. And the ultimate conclusion lies back in that tricky question of expectations.

What Burton ultimately underlined is that City’s biggest strength and biggest weakness are becoming more pronounced at exactly the same time.

They are extraordinarily difficult to play against. Yet at the other end, City still resemble a collection of very good attacking footballers waiting for the relationships between them to click. They look remarkably well equipped to make sure very few opponents beat them. The next stage is working out how to beat more opponents themselves.

Perhaps that is why this draw with Burton felt simultaneously satisfactory and frustrating. It was another demonstration of why City deserve to be talked about as promotion contenders, but also of what might prevent them becoming something more.

Duff has inherited a very good Bradford City side. His great challenge now is not fixing something that is broken. It is finding the extra few per cent that could turn a good side into a promotion one.

Categories: Match Reviews

Tags: 2026/27, BCAFC, Burton Albion, League One