Newport County continue their Sky Bet League Two campaign with a trip to Bradford City this evening (8pm).
Fresh off the back of an impressive 3-1 victory over Salford City, the Exiles will be looking to make it three consecutive wins in the space of almost a week.
A win in West Yorkshire could propel County back into the playoff spots and close the gap on the automatic promotion places.
Pre-Match views
Speaking ahead of tonight's game, Nelson Jardim: "It’s going to be another tough game for us.
"We will try and take our home form on the road. For us, it’s all about progress, improvement and consistency. It’s down to us now over the next few games to keep on going and improving on the areas we need to.
“We come into the game on Monday with two real good wins, two important wins for us. But we know what’s coming up for us as a team.”
Opposition Form
Bradford City currently sit 13th in the table with 12 points from nine games (W3 D3 L3). The Bantams have had an inconsistent start to the season but recently managed to snatch a 1-1 draw against Morecambe, thanks to a late equaliser from centre-back Jack Shepherd.
Bradford's main attacking threat, Andy Cook, remains in fine form, with four goals so far this season. Cook, who has netted 62 times for Bradford over the past three seasons, is already on six goals across all competitions this campaign.
Shared shirts
Bradford City attacker Calum Kavanagh previously spent time on loan at Newport County in 2023. The Irish forward made 19 appearances for County, scoring twice, including a decisive goal against Swindon Town.
Another notable figure shared between the two clubs is former Newport manager Michael Flynn. Flynn, who began his playing career at Newport in 1999, went on to play for Bradford between 2009 and 2011, before returning to manage Newport from 2017 to 2021, famously leading the club to several strong cup runs.
Meet the officials
Thomas Kirk will be the man in the middle for this evening's fixture against Bradford City.
You can find out more about Kirk and his officiating team HERE.
Head-to-Head
Historically, Bradford have had the upper hand in this fixture, winning 23 of the 50 meetings, compared to Newport’s 18 victories, with nine matches ending in draws. Newport have struggled recently against Bradford, failing to win any of their last six encounters.
In fact, the Exiles have only won once in their last nine league visits to Valley Parade, with Bradford winning seven of those meetings.
Read more about our first and last win against the Bantams HERE.
A previous encounter
One memorable recent meeting between the sides took place in March 2021, when Newport came from behind to beat Bradford 2-1 at the Cardiff City Stadium. Bradford’s Andy Cook opened the scoring early in the second half, but Matt Dolan’s stunning free-kick levelled the game before he calmly converted a last-minute penalty to give Newport a dramatic win.
Key facts
- Bradford are unbeaten in their last six league matches against Newport (W3 D3), including two comprehensive 4-1 wins last season.
- Newport have won just once in their last nine away league games against Bradford (D1 L7), failing to score in six of those games.
- Bradford City are currently unbeaten in seven consecutive home league games (W5 D2), their longest such run since a streak of 11 games from March to September 2022.
- Newport County have faced the most shots in League Two this season (150) and are second only to Harrogate Town for shots on target conceded (50).
- Bradford are among the most physical teams in the league, averaging 13.8 fouls per game, the third highest in League Two.