Bradford Town 0, Backwell United 1

MARK Hodkinson says his side may have to "win ugly" to halt a depressing sequence of nine consecutive defeats.

The Bradford boss was encouraged by the performance against Backwell at Trowbridge Road, but admits his side are lacking a cutting edge.

He said: "We just need to score an ugly goal or produce an ugly performance to get that next win.

"Everyone seems to be beating everyone else in this league at the moment apart from us.

"The hardest thing for me at the moment is trying to keep the players' heads up.

"We didn't deserve to lose on Saturday but when you're down the bottom the luck doesn't run for you."

Bradford reverted to a more basic game plan against Backwell in a bid to rattle the visitors from Somerset.

But the only things Bradford rattled were the post and the crossbar as the Backwell escaped Wiltshire with three vital First Division points.

"Our plan was to get back to basics and give nothing away," said Hodkinson.

"There's no point trying to get the ball down and play when confidence is low. Even so, we created a few good chances and should have scored at least once."

Steve Roddy shot wide and Russell Whatley cracked an effort against the post in a first half which saw Bradford on the front foot.

The hosts switched from a 3-5-2 to a 4-4-2 formation after the break, but the move backfired as Alex Wyatt fired Backwell ahead.

The Bradford defence switched off and a short corner found its way to Wyatt who unleashed a fierce strike beyond the helpless Charlie Heydon.

Substitute Steve Bryant almost brought the home side level, but his cross-shot was tipped onto the crossbar by the Backwell goalkeeper.

Bradford continued to press in the closing stages but the Backwell defence slammed the door in their face to heap more misery on Hodkinson.

"I don't often say we were unlucky, but I thought we deserved at least a point from the game," he said.

"Most of the lads came out for a beer after the game and we had a good discussion about where we are going wrong.

"It's no secret that I've been trying to bring a few players in.

"Maybe some new faces will lift the spirits in the squad and help us get back to winning ways."