Bradford City 1-0 Notts County

Notts County are currently in ninth place, and just two points behind sixth-placed Sheffield United, but today's 1-0 defeat away at Bradford still proved a bitter pill to swallow, in that it was yet another negative result, the end of our unbeaten away run, and the realisation that we still need to put in a fair bit of work - and possibly invest in a few more players - if we are to actually put up a fight against the division's top sides.

The game began with the hosts on the front foot as they piled on the pressure against Notts, with Billy Knott and Andy Halliday missing two early chances for Bradford.

Soon enough, the visitors began mustering several efforts of their own, as Gary Jones’s free kick went out for a corner and Jake Cassidy struck the post with Jordan Pickford beaten.

Ryan Hall then came close when he latched onto a Thompson pass to fire a volley over the bar, but not long before half time, it was the home side that took the lead.

It was a soft goal to concede as well, as Roy Carroll got caught out when Hayden Mullins slipped with a Thompson pass going back towards goal, which allowed Halliday to retrieve possession and thread the ball through to Knott, who fired into the net with the help of a deflection.

Following the restart, the game found itself bogged down in midfield, with chances at a premium, and the longer the match went on, the more desperate Notts became.

Bradford nearly exploited this when Knott picked out an unmarked James Hanson inside the box, but Carroll was able to pull off a great save to tip the ball round the post.

In the last ten minutes, the Magpies huffed and puffed, but lacked penetration in the final third, which allowed the Bantams to see out the game and secure all three points.