Bradford City vs. Latics

10 November 2020

Latics play their final group match in the newly named and sponsored Papa John's Trophy as they take on Bradford City at Valley Parade (7:30pm KO).

Harry Kewell’s men go into the tie on the back of two wins on the bounce, overseeing Cheltenham Town in Sky Bet League Two action and Hampton and Richmond in the Emirates FA Cup.

Form Guide

Bradford also go into the game on the back of two successive wins. They beat Southend 3-0 in the league before a 7-0 triumph over Tonbridge in the cup at the weekend.

This comes after they had gone on a run of four games where they only picked up one point.

They have picked up 12 points in their opening 10 games which puts them four places and one point better off than Oldham.

The Bantams’ last six:

Tonbridge 0-7 Bradford City
Bradford City 3-0 Southend United
Barrow 1-0 Bradford City
Bolton Wanderers 1-0 Bradford City
Bradford City 0-3 Newport County
Bradford City 1-1 Walsall

Head-to-Head

The sides have met on 112 occasions; Latics have won 45, Bradford 34 and 33 have been draws.

The last time the sides met was at Boundary Park in February when Oldham ran out comfortable 3-0 winners. First-half goals from Zak Dearnley, Jonny Smith and Mohamed Maouche ensured three points against playoff hopefuls Bradford.

However, the last time they met at Valley Parade it was a very different story with the Bantams winning 3-0 in August 2019.

Latics have a good record against Bradford in recent years and have lost just one of the previous six meetings.

It’ll be a case of getting to know each other again with the teams meeting up in this competition, the Emirates FA Cup and league in the space of a month, making the Bantams one of Latics’ most played opponents.

Group So Far

Latics are the only side in the group to have guaranteed their place in the knockout stages of the competition, picking up maximum points from their opening two games.

Bradford and the other two sides in the group have all picked up two points from their two games meaning it is all to play for to secure the final qualification spot in Northern Group F.

Elsewhere in the group, Doncaster go up against the Wolves’ development squad.

Regardless of the results in this round, Oldham will top the group.

Team News

It is expected a number of changes will be made as a result of the advantageous position the club find themselves in with a game to spare, meaning some players may be rested and others introduced for vital minutes.

Carl Piergianni is completing the end of his self-isolation period, Zak Dearnley and Andrea Badan remain on the treatment table, whilst Harry Clarke is cup tied due to his involvement with Arsenal U21 before signing on-loan.

Jordan Barnett is suspended due to two bookings in the previous group games.

It is unlikely Conor McAleny will make a return from his injury after failing a late fitness test but maybe back in contention for the weekend.

It is also too soon to confirm whether Laurence Bilboe and Tom Hamer will be available after precautionary Covid-19 measures were taken at the weekend.

New signing Raphael Diarra is available for selection and may come straight into the team.

Watch Out For

Clayton Donaldson was on target last time out for Bradford.

Latics fans may remember Donaldson was on the score sheet the last time Oldham travelled to Valley Parade.

The 36 year-old joined Bradford City in June 2019 and arrived with an impressive pedigree in the Football League.

The journeyman forward boasts impressive goal scoring records with Crewe Alexandra, Brentford, Birmingham City.

Donaldson has also played for Hull City, Harrogate Town, Scarborough, Halifax Town, York City, Hibernian, Sheffield United and Bolton Wanderers.

He also has experience at international level, representing Jamaica 10 times, finding the back of the net two times.

A Foot In Both Camps

Current Barrow midfielder Chris Taylor has played for both Latics and Bradford.

AFIBC - Chris Taylor (1).jpg

The Oldham-born midfielder began his football career at Boundary Park and made over 250 appearances for the club in his first spell between 2005 and 2012 before leaving for Millwall.

Taylor would return to Oldham as a loanee in 2017 after enjoying spells with Blackburn Rovers and Bolton Wanderers.

The 33-year old signed for Bradford in 2019 following a season spent with Blackpool. He spent just one season at Valley Parade and made 15 appearances for the club in all competitions.

In The Dugout

In the dugout for the hosts is Stuart McCall.

McCall is currently in his third permanent spell at Valley Parade and has also had a stint as caretaker manager with the club.

The 56 year-old spent the majority of his playing career with Bradford City two across two separate spells.

In addition, his playing career also saw him turn out for Everton, Rangers and Sheffield United as well as representing Scotland 40 times.

McCall has also taken charge of Motherwell, Rangers and Scunthorpe United in his managerial career.

Match Officials

The referee for the game will be Scott Oldham.

Scott Oldham.jpg

Officiating nine games this season predominantly in League One, he has give out 16 yellow cards.

His last game involving Latics was the 2-1 win at Cambridge at the start of last season where he handed out four bookings.

He will be assisted by Robert Atkin and Richard Wigglesworth with the fourth official being Peter Gooch.

Ahead of kick-off both team captains will lay a wreath in the centre circle, before observing a minute's silence - after the Last Post is performed in respect of the upcoming Remembrance Day.

Throughout the course of the game, players and match officials will carry the poppy. This means Latics will be back in the blue and tangerine home kit like Sunday.

Sky Bet Odds

The Bantams are 5/4 favourites for the EFL Trophy clash and Latics are priced at 17/10 to maintain their 100% record in this season’s competition.

It is 23/10 to be all level after 90 minutes.

Please gamble responsibly, for more information visit: www.begambleaware.org

How To Follow The Game

Because the game is classed as behind-closed-doors, supporters can tune into a live match stream with commentary available for all subscribers on iFollow Latics, as Roy Butterworth and Michael Brown talk you through the action.

Supporters can also create an account by clicking here, scrolling down to 'Match Passes' and paying the £10 fee to access the stream.

Alternatively, fans can also follow the game with live updates on the club's official Twitter account: @OfficialOAFC.

Match Reports

Bradford City 1-3 Latics

10 November 2020

Davis Keillor-Dunn and Alfie McCalmont score their first goals for the club as Latics make it three wins out of three in the Papa John’s Trophy group stage.

It was a special evening for second-year scholar Will Sutton who was handed his professional debut in the backline at the Utilita Energy Stadium. New signing Raphael Diarra also came straight into the side with Sido Jombati, Tom Hamer, Keillor-Dunn, Callum Whelan and George Blackwood also making a return.

Before kick-off, both sides showed their respect observing a one-minute silence ahead of Remembrance Day tomorrow.

Harry Kewell’s dominated the opening encounter and got their rewards in the seventh minute as the in-form Rowe had the vision and the passing ability to send Keillor-Dunn through on goal and the midfielder kept his composure to slot into the bottom right corner to get off the mark at the club.

The Bantams started to get a foothold in the clash and tested Ian Lawlor when a free-kick was cleared to Finn Cousin-Dawson on the edge of the 18-yard box and he managed to strike low and hard through a sea of bodies, but the Latics number one got his foot to the effort which was enough to keep the youngster out.

The visitors continued to show promise and produced an impressive piece of play down the left which resulted in Jombati lobbing a ball over the Bradford backline to Blackwood and the Australian hit it first time on the volley but dragged it wide of the far post.

Whelan should’ve doubled Oldham’s lead late into the first-half as he intercepted a defender on the edge of the area and drove towards goal, beating a man before striking however Sam Hornby did well to get a strong hand to it.

The last chance before the interval fell to Stuart McCall’s men as Paudie O’Connor raced forward from defence and played it out wide to Tyler French, who crossed low into the path of the onrushing Kian Scales, but from an angle, he powerfully struck straight at Lawlor.

Latics raced out of the blocks once again and came close early in the second period when Dylan Bahamboula played a one-two with Hamer and dribbled into space inside the area, but he opted to shoot and blasted into the side-netting instead of passing across goal to Blackwood.

Just moments later, the away side raced forward again which saw Blackwood play Keillor-Dunn one-on-one with Hornby, but he couldn’t double his tally for the game.

However, City had themselves level around the hour-mark as French delivered a trademark powerful cross into the box from the right and, after an impressive performance, Oldham debutant W.Sutton turned into his own net from close range.

They kept their pressure up and nearly took the lead just minutes after equalising as Jackson Longridge’s corner found the head of Cousin-Dawson inside the box and his attempt cannoned off the crossbar with Latics managing to clear the trouble.

With five minutes left of normal time, Oldham found themselves a deserved goal as Alfie McCalmont was played through into the box and the promising midfielder poked a strike into the top right corner which meant that Latics closed in on their third win in three group stage games.

The game was sealed in the 93rd minute as Keillor-Dunn picked out the onrushing McCalmont inside the box and he confidently side-footed into the far corner to secure the same outcome that Latics had here in the same competition in October 2018.

Bradford City XI – Hornby (GK), Longridge, O’Connor (Staunton 46’), Richards-Everton ©, French, L.Sutton (Sukiennicki 80’), Cousin-Dawson, Sikora, Scales, Shanks (Wood 80’), Mottley-Henry.

Subs – O’Donnell (GK).

Goals: W.Sutton (OG) 60’

Oldham Athletic XI – Lawlor (GK), Jombati, W.Sutton, Diarra (Jameson 72’), Hamer ©, Keillor-Dunn, McCalmont, Whelan, Bahamboula (Da Silva 61’), Rowe, Blackwood (Garrity 72’).

Subs – Chapman (GK), Grant, Fage, Hough.

Goals: Keillor-Dunn 7’, McCalmont 85’ 90+3’

Referee – Scott Oldham