Bradford City

Huddersfield's Clarke joins City
Bradford City have signed Huddersfield Town defender Tom Clarke on a one-month loan deal. Clarke will go straight into the squad for the Bantams trip to Grimsby Town in League Two on Friday. The 20-year-old has made just one appearance for the Terriers this season, the 1-0 Johnstone's Paint Trophy defeat at Darlington. Clarke - the younger brother of Town's Nathan - also had a spell on loan at Halifax Town last season. Bradford City manager Stuart McCall had been looking for cover in central defence for the injured Mark Bower, and hinted after Monday's defeat at Darlington that he was looking to enter the loan market. Clarke progressed through Huddersfield's youth academy and made his first-team debut in February 2005. He has also represented England Under-19's but missed most of the 2006/07 season with a ruptured cruciate ligament. Although normally a centre-back, he has also played at full-back and in central midfield for the Terriers.

Bradford City sign midfielder Law
Bradford City have re-signed Nicky Law on loan from Sheffield United until the end of November. The 20-year-old midfielder made 10 appearance for Bradford last season on loan and comes in as cover for the injured Joe Colbeck. "He's come on a reduced wage, so thank you to Sheffield United for that," Bantams manager Stuart McCall told Radio Leeds. "Nicky has been doing well in their reserves and we know what he can do." Colbeck saw a specialist on Monday regarding the ankle injury he picked up at Grimsby Town. He is expected to be out for a minimum of two weeks. Law, son of former City manager Nicky, scored twice for the West Yorkshire club during his time at Valley Parade last season. McCall added: "Losing Joe is a big disappointment and it will be at least a few weeks till he will return. "Nicky's not getting a chance in United's first team at the moment because they have such a strong squad. "With Joe getting injured we needed to get someone that could cover his position and Nicky can do that, plus play just off the front two if needed to. "We'll see how Nicky does for the month and if Sheffield United want him back, but I'd love to have him for more than a month."

Law keen to extend Bradford stay
Bradford City loanee Nicky Law has said he wants to extend his stay at the League Two club. The 20-year-old midfielder re-signed from Sheffield United for a month as cover for the injured Joe Colbeck, who has been ruled out until the New Year. "If it could be extended I'd be delighted," Law told Radio Leeds. "I want to stay here for as long as Bradford need me and I'm sure that will all be discussed over the next couple of weeks." Law made 10 loan appearances for the West Yorkshire outfit last season. And he added: "The quality in the squad is much better this time around. "We have experienced players here now too which we lacked last season and that compliments the talented youngsters. "I think that all reflects in our current high position in the table."

We barely deserved point - McCall
Bradford City manager Stuart McCall felt his side were fortunate to get a point from Saturday's 3-3 draw against Barnet at Valley Parade. Bradford held the lead three times but were pegged back on each occasion. Former Scotland midfielder McCall told Radio Leeds: "It was a point that we barely deserved - our second-half performance wasn't good enough. "I didn't expect us to give two joke goals away like we did in the first half - both goals were shocking goals." "We said before the game that Barnet do concede a lot of goals but they are always a threat. "They scored four at Rotherham and two at Shrewsbury and we knew they would pose a threat going forward. "The first one was a bad back-pass that Rhys Evans should have cleared rather than dribbling. "For the second one, Clarke out wide got too tight and let the boy roll him - they're two really poor defensive goals to lose which gives them belief. "We scored three really good goals but second half we didn't perform and they just pressed and pressed and definitely deserved the equaliser so it was a point we barely deserved."

Bradford rule out bid for Bishop
Bradford City manager Stuart McCall will not be making a bid for Bury striker Andy Bishop. McCall earlier admitted making enquiries about Bishop's position at Gigg Lane as the 26-year-old recently turned down a new deal there. But McCall told the Telegraph & Argus: "I can categorically state that we have not made any offer or bid for Bishop. "I'm led to believe that Bury made him a fantastic offer, far and away above what our top-wage player is on." "And obviously there would be a transfer fee on top of that, so it's out the question," he added. Bishop has scored 57 goals in 118 starts for Bury and has been their top scorer for the last three seasons. McCall was spotted at Gigg Lane on Saturday when Bradford's game at Bournemouth was postponed, but said he was there to run his eye over their future opponents - Bradford are at Bury at the end of January. "I was originally going to Accrington but it got called off. Then it was Chesterfield and Rochdale but that was also off, so I went to Bury. "There were only three games on in the division. Bury was the nearest and we play them in two weeks. "I was there to watch them not Bishop. It wouldn't have mattered if Bishop was playing or not, I was still going to Bury. "There's nothing in it and he wants to play at a higher level anyway." Meanwhile Joe Colbeck played an hour for the reserves on Tuesday - his first action since October. Peter Thorne also played for 45 minutes following his shoulder injury

Bradford sign QPR defender Rehman
Bradford City have signed centre-back Zesh Rehman on loan from Queens Park Rangers until the end of the season. The 25-year-old Pakistan captain can also play at right-back and spent time on loan at Rangers' Championship rivals Blackpool earlier this season. Rehman started his career at Fulham and has also played at Norwich and Brighton and could feature for Bradford on Tuesday night at Bury. He has not played since Blackpool's win at Birmingham on 20 September.

McCall facing goalkeeping crisis
Bradford City manager Stuart McCall is likely to dip into the emergency loan market with all three goalkeepers currently out injured. First-choice Rhys Evans has a thigh strain, so Jon McLaughlan was set to make his debut at Barnet on Saturday, but he was concussed in a friendly. Under Football Association rules, the youngster cannot play for a fortnight. Third-choice keeper Matthew Convey, who was recently on loan at Salford, is also currently on the sidelines. McCall told the official website: "With two keepers being out, you can get one in for seven or 14 days. "But obviously we feel for Jonny. He hasn't had an injury all season and it's just typical that this should happen at the same time as Rhys. "Jonny hadn't played for three or four weeks so he needed the game to get rid of a bit of rust. "We were only going to give him an hour anyway and this happened just before he was due to come off." Better news from the friendly against Doncaster was the return after a five month-injury absence for midfielder Chris Brandon. He played for an hour and McCall said: "Chris was full of running and really enjoyed it."

Daley is set for 10-month lay-off
Bradford City winger Omar Daley could be out until Christmas after an operation on his knee revealed the damage was worse than thought. The 27-year-old picked up the ligament injury in the 0-0 draw with Darlington earlier this month. Manager Stuart McCall told the Telegraph & Argus: "When the surgeon went into the knee he found the problem was much bigger . "It's not only the lateral ligament but the cruciate is damaged as well." The Jamaica international has started started 29 games this season, scoring four times, including the opening goal in the recent win at Gillingham. Although McCall thought Daley might be out until the end of the season, he did not imagine it would be for much longer. "It was a really bad injury and the surgeon thinks it could be eight to ten months before Omar can look to play again," he said. "We could be looking at Christmas, which is obviously a massive blow. "It's going to be very hard for Omar but he's got to try to get his head round it. He needs to be mentally strong. "He's saying all the right things about coming back stronger and I'm sure he will. "Omar's going to be in a brace for a few weeks and then he can hopefully start setting himself little targets."

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