Bradford City Suffer Blow Ahead Of Grimsby Town Clash
Bradford City will be without the services of summer signing Clarke Oduor for this Saturday’s League Two clash against Grimsby Town after the midfielder was called up by Kenya, the club have confirmed.
The 24-year-old joined the Bantams in the summer following the following the expiration of his contract at Barnsley, having spent the first half of last season on loan at then-League Two outfit Hartlepool United.
Comfortable operating in a range of positions, Oduor has already featured for Bradford on the left of midfield, the right wing and as centre forward, scoring his first goal for the club in the 2-1 win over Colchester United last month.
Having gained Championship experience during his time with Barnsley, his arrival at Valley Parade was met with much excitement and he has featured in all-but-one of Bradford’s opening six league fixtures.
The former Leeds United youngster had represented the Kenyan national team on one occasion – in 2020 – but has earned a recall thanks to his early season form for the upcoming friendlies against Qatar and South Sudan. Bradford have confirmed he will miss Saturday’s visit of Grimsby Town as a result.
It’s a blow for manager Mark Hughes, who has endured an indifferent start to this season to the campaign, picking up eight points to date. However, the Yorkshire side are unbeaten in their last three fixtures in all competitions and progressed to the third round of the Carabao Cup last week with a penalty shootout win over league rivals Wrexham.
Writer’s View
Mark Hughes knows that he needs to go on a run of wins before he starts to come under pressure, with Bradford harbouring ambitions of promotion after narrowly losing out in last season’s play-off semi final against Carlisle United.
Missing one of their key signings against Grimsby this weekend is something the former Premier League boss could have done without, although he will still fancy his chances against a team which have only picked up one extra point. A win here could see Bradford move up into the top seven, with just three points separating fourth and 16th.
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