Parkinson says Cup was not distraction
PHIL PARKINSON said Bradford City’s FA Cup quarter-final replay was not to blame for surrendering two points at Notts County.
The Bantams had taken the lead on the stroke of half-time when Jon Stead converted Francois Zoko’s pull-back, to leave them on course to win.
But they missed a series of chances in the second half and were made to pay when Mike Edwards headed in Gary Jones’s corner.
Bantams boss Parkinson, who made seven changes to his team, blamed a lack of ruthlessness, rather than minds concentrating on Monday’s pivotal trip to Reading.
“I thought we were outstanding and we’ve let them off the hook,” he said.
“We had four or five giltedged chances to kill the game off and, when you don’t take them, you always put yourself under pressure.
“The only real chance they had in the second half was a set play and the lad scored.
“But the way we played I couldn’t have asked for any more.
“We deserved the three points, but in football you sometimes don’t get what you deserve.
“But there have been no minds straying towards Monday and everybody could see that was the case in our performance.
“We made several changes and I thought the lads who came in were our best players.
“Obviously it was a very difficult team selection, with such a high profile game on the horizon and then asking them to go again.
“We rested some players, but the lads who came in didn’t weaken the team.”
Notts boss Shaun Derry was delighted to secure a point, which brought to an end a miserable run of form at Meadow Lane.
He praised his players for their reaction in the second half, having conceded just before the break.
“It was a big point for us,” he said. “The halftime team talk went out the window, given the goal we conceded, which really disappointed me.
“But the reaction in the second from the players was big. We dug in where it mattered.We defended like Trojans and then we scored from a set-piece ourselves.
“It’s been a long time coming this season. I’ve been critical of the setpieces this year because they’ve not been up to standard, especially the work we put into them.
“But it is what it is. We managed to nick one today and it gives us a big lift for the game against Rochdale on Tuesday.
“At times we played some good stuff and we perhaps lacked that killer pass or shot on goal.But we dug in.We stuck in there and we’ve not had a lot go our way.”