Smallwood frustrated with Valley Parade problems

FOR Richie Smallwood, it’s all about the not knowing.

Not knowing which Bradford City side will necessarily turn up on any given day is only part of it, with the Bantams lurching from the sublime to the ridiculous in following up a splendid away day at Accrington with a lousy home performance to Forest Green three days later.

Not knowing whether Tuesday’s home game with Rovers was going to be on was the City’s captain more overriding observation, with the hosts’ pre-match preparations for a Valley Parade fixture – not for the first time in recent months and quite possibly not the last – affected by a pitch inspection.

In the professional game where the fine margins and one percenters are increasingly important, such developments are not ideal when it comes to player preparation.

Smallwood, pictured, acknowledged: “We try and do everything right off the pitch, we have afternoon naps, we eat the right food, we stretch and recover the best we can, but not knowing if the game's going to be on is not ideal.

“That's just the situation we're in and we've got to get on with it.”

Getting on with it is what City must do regarding the much-publicised state of their home pitch, with

Tuesday’s game being the first of a scheduled triple-header.

Leaders Mansfield Town head to BD8 on Saturday, with Notts County due to visit next Tuesday.

While having three games in succession on home soil has its advantages, the weather-ravaged surface at City negates that somewhat.

Smallwood continued: “It's the same for both teams, but I'll be honest, it's not great.

“It's probably the worst pitch in the EFL, the ball doesn't bounce. It's so heavy on your legs.

“It's something that needs looking at because we're going into games not knowing if they're on. With not playing for two weeks, we've got a backlog of games.

“Setting off to the game when we've got a pitch inspection, we don't know if the game's on, it's the pitch holding water...It's just not good enough and we started the game not good enough.

“I'm not making excuses because we weren't good enough, but it's one of the things on the side that needs improving. “There's no time for it to get better and it's something we need to look at at the end of the season.

“I think a better pitch on Saturday helped the better players we've got to control the ball and shoot. That (Bradford) pitch is very unpredictable, but it's the same for both teams.”

After being heralded in East Lancashire at the weekend, City were jeered in West Yorkshire on Tuesday as the hosts lacked the wit to penetrate Forest Green’s backline.

While the pitch was an issue, it was only part of the story.

Former Hull City, Rotherham United and Middlesbrough player Smallwood said: “I totally understand the fans' frustration, it looked boring, it looked slow at times but you can't just keeping booting the ball forward to their 6ft 7in centrehalf. Sometimes you've got to work out different ways.

“We tried every way and just couldn't find a way.”