MATCH PREVIEW: Bradford City vs Swindon

Swindon Town begin a seismic week in their season as they travel to Yorkshire to face Bradford City in League Two. Total Sport’s Joe Acklam previews the clash.

Swindon successfully negotiated their home double header against lowly Colchester United and basement boys Hartlepool United with back-to-back wins to take Town up to fifth in League Two.

They now have the more perilous looking task of taking on two fellow promotion chasers in Bradford and Mansfield Town, but Scott Lindsey was not willing to entertain it as a crucial week for their season.

He said: “It may sound boring but I think they are all hard games, we played a game on Saturday against a team who are bottom of the league but I think it was a hard game.

“You saw the physical presence from the striker [Josh Umerah] I thought he was good for them and there were certain players who were good for them on Saturday.

“And they are bottom of the league so I think every game we go into is a test and these will be no different.

“Anybody can beat anybody, it is that kind of league. Obviously over the course of the season there will be teams in that top ten who will stay there most of the season but there will be some funny results across the season because that is League Two football.

“Bradford are a good team at what they do and the way they work, they have a very experienced manager and this will be a tough game.

“Is it a marker of where we are? Probably. Is it a marker of where we will end up? Probably not.”

Swindon’s injury report is where it was prior to Hartlepool but with two big games in a week means that utilising the squad will be key for Swindon’s success.

Lindsey said: “I think it will require freshness. It is a long way to Bradford and there were some sore legs after the game on Saturday and historically there are some players within the squad who haven’t coped well with playing Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday.

“The travel can definitely take it out of you as well, so we are doing everything in our power to put a fresh team out on the pitch.”

Swindon’s win at the University of Bradford Stadium last season was their first against the Bantams since 2016 when Anton Rodgers’ goals proved to be enough at the County Ground.

Town just about have the upper hand in the clash across the whole history of the fixture, winning 16 of 42 matches, drawing 13 and also losing 13.