Bradford City hit with ‘real blow’ as key player ruled out of Doncaster Rovers clash

Bradford City boss Michael Duff has confirmed that talented midfielder Bobby Pointon will be missing for his side’s home match with Doncaster Rovers due to injury.

Rovers, who sit just above the relegation places, travel to Valley Parade on Saturday 21 November, chasing their first league win since beating Sheffield Wednesday nearly a month earlier on 24 October.

Grant McCann’s men are currently in the middle of a long streak of games on the road, which with the exception of a 4-1 win away at Rochdale in the EFL Trophy, have been very tough to endure for the travelling contingent of Rovers supporters.

It all started with a 3-1 defeat away at Luton Town just three days after the home win over Wednesday, with the Hatters dominating the contest particularly in the second half, to cruise to a comfortable win. That was then followed by a humiliating 6-1 loss to newly-promoted MK Dons, with the away supporters booing the team off at both half-time and full-time.

And in their most recent outing in the FA Cup at Aggbrough Stadium, the same pattern followed, with supporters venting their frustrations at McCann and the team after a demolarising 3-0 defeat to National League side Kidderminster Harriers.

Rovers will hope to use the international break to their advantage as they aim to stop the rut - but could also benefit from the timing of the fixture with Bradford following this latest injury update.

Pointon has notably played 12 times for The Bantams this season, registering two goals and one assist in League One.

He also played a pivotal role under former boss Graham Alexander last term, scoring 10 times in League One while chipping in with three assists as the team secured an impressive fourth place finish.

Michael Duff told the Yorkshire Post: "Bobby is the real blow. Bobby's going to be (out) eight weeks, minimum.

"But we're waiting to see a result. He's off to see a specialist, so we need to see what the results of that are. The scans show it's an MCL, so it's not great news.”

Elsewhere, however, Duff did confirm that Josh Neufville will be back from his hamstring issue which has kept him out for two months. Neufville claimed three goals and eight assists last term, with one of those assists coming in the last meeting between the teams with Bradford running out 1-0 winners against McCann’s side.

Meanwhile, Rovers are hoping to welcome back three experienced stars in time for the trip to West Yorkshire.

Centre-back Matty Pearson, left-back James Husband and striker James Collins all hoping to be involved after the international break.