Wells rested as Bradford lose in FA Cup
Bermudian striker Nahki Wells was rested last night as Bradford City were beaten 4-2 by Brentford after extra time in the FA Cup last night.Bradford travelled to London to meet Brentford after being reinstated in the FA Cup after initially being banned from the competition for fielding an ineligible player in the 1-1 draw.In-form Wells, who took his tally to 15 for the season in the 2-2 draw at Southend on the weekend, was among those rested after struggling with a knee problem of late. Manager Phil Parkinson rang in the changes as Bradford looked to maintain their incredible record in knockout competitions. Going into last night’s match Bradford had yet to taste defeat in a cup competition this term, going 10 games unbeaten across the Capital One Cup, Johnstone's Paint Trophy and FA Cup competitions.And they looked set to extend that run when Kyel Reid gave them the lead after 34 minutes. Marcella Trotta levelled for League One joint leaders Brentford right at the end of the first half from the penalty spot. The teams remained deadlocked for the rest of regulation time before Alan Connell netted from the penalty in the fourth minute of extra time to restore Bradford’s lead.However, three goals in six minutes turned the match in Brentford’s favour as Trott added a second goal in the 102nd minute before Clayton Donaldson (103rd minute) and Harry Forrester (106th) made it 3-2 and 4-2 in Brentford’s favour.The match was the second straight Bradford to go into extra time, following last week’s upset over Arsenal in the Capital One Cup. The downside to such an impressive run has meant Parkinson's men have had to negotiate their way through a series of gruelling fixtures, some of which have included extra-time and penalty shoot-outs.Speaking on the Bantams' official website, Parkinson said: “We have to manage the lads properly with the amount of games we've had already and the amount of games we have coming up in this next month or so.”Bradford hope to have Wells available for crucial league fixtures over the Christmas holiday. They are away to Wycombe on Saturday before two home games on Boxing Day and December 29 against Accrington and Rochdale before travelling away to Morecambe on New Year’s Day..
