GRAHAM Alexander admits City are missing the extra “five per cent” that Jamie Walker provides.
The Bantams have not won in the league since Walker went off injured at Doncaster just before Christmas.
Walker is making steady progress in his recovery but this weekend’s reverse Yorkshire derby at Valley Parade is set to come too soon for him.
He was not ready to participate in full training yesterday but is stepping up his work with the club’s medical team.
“It’s the next step and then the one after that is joining in training,” said Alexander. “The quicker he can safely get back to being available, the better for us.
“I don’t like to talk about one particular player being instrumental. But there are players in teams who add something completely different and help you triumph.
“Jamie’s one of those players and we have missed his presence.
“It’s not to say other players can’t pick up the mantle and add to the goalscoring threat.
“But he was in really good form playing-wise, scoring goals and assisting. Unfortunately, that was taken away from us for the last few games.”
Walker had scored in three of City’s four league outings anterior to getting crocked from a nasty tackle by Doncaster defender Jack Senior. They have gathered up just three points from a possible 15 since he was forced off.
Alexander added: “Jamie’s a really intelligent footballer and does both sides of the game.
“He presses superbly, he’s brilliant on the counter-press and then when he does get it, he has an end product.
“He creates things, he creates set-pieces, he scores, he makes assists.
“I still believe we’ve had enough in those games to win more points than we have done. But sometimes that extra three, four or five per cent that a quality player like him contributes is the fine margin that makes a difference.
“That’s where we have to try and find that improvement if we can.”
Alexander will resist the temptation to hurry him back for fear of making the problem worse and is not planning to involve him on Saturday.
“I can’t see that,” he said. “It will be a month since he played and I think it would be a long shot.
“There’s no way we’re putting players at risk of long-term injury or missing the rest of the season for the sake of pushing them three or four days earlier than they should be.
“It’s not the right thing to do for that player and I believe we have others good enough to play in the team anyway.
“I’m never going to try to create a team so dependent on one particular player. But we all know Jamie’s quality.”
Alexander expects Tyreik Wright to be completely up to speed in time for his return to City colours after taking part in his first training session.
“Sometimes it’s good to be thrown straight in. If he’d been with us on Friday, he’d have been in the squad at Colchester.
“But he’ll have a general idea of what’s expected of him in and out of possession.
“By Friday and Saturday and we get down to the real game prep, he’ll have had two full days’ training with the players and understand what he needs to bring to the table.
“A couple of days will be enough for him to get the gist of what we want and then I’m sure he’ll be chomping at the bit to get going.”
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