Bradford City boss praises Crawley Town's Scott Lindsey ahead of League Two clash

Alexander and Lindsey know each other well having played youth football together at Scunthorpe United 30 years ago. And now they go head-to-head for the second time this season. in August, Alexander was MK Dons manager and Lindsey masterminded a 2-1 win. Alexander, after parting ways with MK on October 16, was appointed at Valley Parade on November 6. He has seen the Bantams win five of their last eight games but lost to Crewe 1-0 last time out.

Reds beat Swindon 3-1 in their last game and saw them just three points off the play-offs. And Alexander said Lindsey deserves credit for the job he has don at the Broadfield Stadium.

He said: “I know Scott well. I played with him 30 years ago in the youth team at Scunthorpe United. I spoke to him when he got appointed and he’s done a great job there.

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“I obviously played against him early on as well when I was at MK. Every managerial job is a tough gig but there are loads of rewards. If you do your job right, you get them. He’s certainly done a good job at Crawley so every credit to him.”

And commenting on how it’s going at Bradford after being appointed mid-season, Alexander said: ““That’s football now. Who gets two years to get things sorted? You have to be able to work in a way that’s quick, efficient, gets people’s trust and gets results. I’ve started jobs in the summer, in January, in October, March, just about any time.

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“We’ve had success in different ways. It’s more about the players and the squad and the support you’ve got from above. They are more important to me than the time you start. There are a lot of factors that go into you being able to do a good job at any football club. The timing of going in is probably down the list.

“Everyone would say they’d like to go in during the summer and have the pre-season and time to plan ahead and this, that and the other. But sometimes being dropped right in the middle of it, thrown in the deep end and told to go and swim is good as well. As long as you win, it doesn’t really matter.”