Bradford City boss Graham Alexander has stated that his side do not have a lot of money to play with as the end of the transfer window approaches.
The Bantams have been somewhat busy in the market this January, but in terms of incomings have only made loan signings in the form of Oxford United‘s Louie Sibley and Newcastle United pair Joe White and Harrison Ashby.
All three saw action over the weekend in a disappointing loss to Huddersfield Town, highlighted by City’s struggles in front of goal with two key players in Will Swan and Antoni Sarcevic missing through injury.
Limited Spending Power
Speaking to the Telegraph and Argus ahead of a crunch fixture away at Lincoln City, Alexander discussed potential transfer dealings for the rest of the window and what might hinder their plans over the next week.
“We haven’t got a bottomless pit of money and we haven’t got an open-ended squad where we can sign 30 players.
“We’ve only got a certain amount of positions that we need to support.
“We do take into account if this or that player misses who comes in. But there’s no team or squad anywhere that has absolute like-for-like in each position.
“It’s impossible to do that, and certainly we haven’t got that. But we’ve got a good group of players who know how we want to play.”
Space has been created in the squad with the signing of Ashby and White quickly followed by the sale of Brad Halliday to Dundee and the cancellation of Tom McIntyre’s loan from Portsmouth.
Where Do Bradford Need To Strengthen?
After two very disappointing results against Cardiff City and West Yorkshire rivals Huddersfield Town, it is fairly obvious that Bradford City have an issue going forward, especially in the absence of Will Swan and Antoni Sarcevic.
While a very capable replacement is in the squad in Stephen Humphrys, the 28-year-old is not an out-and-out striker and playing in the wider spaces certainly limited the Bantams’ potency when attacking the goal.
With Andy Cook gone following his loan move to Grimsby Town, City need to find a good second striker who can rotate with Swan for the remainder of the season when the former Crawley Town man does not play at his best.
However, Bradford can survive the rest of the season without recruiting in the area and still challenge for promotion, but need Antoni Sarcevic to stay fit as their leading chance creator, with his absence coinciding with a horrible day at the office against Huddersfield.
Whether Graham Alexander acts and signs a new forward between now and the window shutting remains to be seen, but at this pivotal point of the season, recruiting just one more player could boost their hopes of going up.
