Bradford City manager Graham Alexander was left disappointed with his side’s result after Mansfield Town denied them a win on home soil.

Bantams were eager to bounce straight back from their defeat to Wigan Athletic on Saturday but a resolute Stags side held firm to snatch a hard-fought point in West Yorkshire.

On his 300th match in charge, Nigel Clough’s side took the lead thanks to Victor Adeboyejo’s first goal in amber and blue but Bradford got a foot back in through Tyreik Wright late on in the match. The home side dominated most of the second half and pushed to find a winning breakthrough but were ultimately unable to break Stags down.

The Bantams remain comfortably inside the promotion play-off bracket but were left frustrated that they couldn’t secure all three points on Tuesday night. After the match, Alexander stressed he felt his side should have taken the win and aired his frustrations over Stags ‘taking an age to do everything’, which he said was similar to facing Wigan last weekend.

Graham Alexander looks on prior to the Sky Bet League One match between Bradford City and Port Vale at University of Bradford Stadium on December 29, 2025 (Photo by George Wood/Getty Images)

placeholder image — Graham Alexander looks on prior to the Sky Bet League One match between Bradford City and Port Vale at University of Bradford Stadium on December 29, 2025 (Photo by George Wood/Getty Images)

“I think we should win the game. The goal we concede is a scruffy goal where we lose a couple of duels we shouldn’t. I think it’s a mishit shot and it goes in off the other guy’s foot into the corner,” the Bradford boss told BBC Radio Leeds.

“We had some really good deliveries into the box before they scored. We were not anticipating that the ball was coming in and to be fair, we’re one of the best crossing teams in the league and shouldn’t be on the back foot from those opportunities.

“But I think when they scored the goal, it became a little bit of a carbon copy of the Wigan game where the opposition sat in and took an age to do everything, just like Saturday.

“We get the directives in the summer about how the game is going to change. It’s a load of rubbish. It’s the same stuff with different teams. But I thought in the second half, we competed better and it was one-way traffic.”

Bradford City remain in fourth place in the League One table, eight points clear of seventh-placed Huddersfield Town. Meanwhile, Stags are edging ever-closer to the 50-point mark as their latest draw keeps them unbeaten in their last five games, with Northampton Town their next opponent to focus on.