Shez sees red over Brown dismissal

Photo: Alan Howarth

OH NO . . . Connor Brown, with hands on head, can’t believe he has received a red card.

JOHN Sheridan was unhappy with the decision to send off Connor Brown as he fell to a narrow defeat in his first game back in charge of Athletic.

Referee Ben Toner produced a red card for the defender at Bradford after a fully-committed 41st-minute challenge saw him win the ball — but recklessly, the ref believed.

Athletic battled on but fell to a 1-0 defeat courtesy of Tony McMahon’s header early in the second half at Valley Parade.

Sheridan hinted that an appeal over Brown’s three-match ban is pointless - leaving a worry over the right-back position. The full-back replaced injury victim Cameron Dummigan midway through the first half.

“Cameron has a calf injury and it’s a shame as I thought he was probably our brightest player, but Browny came on and it was no fault of his. I felt it was a really good tackle,” said Sheridan, whose side stay 22nd in the table.

“Unfortunately, in today’s game you can’t make a genuine attempt for the ball and win the ball, because if you go in a bit physically they always think it’s dangerous.”

Sheridan’s response to the setback, after an opening in which Bradford rarely threatened, was to stick with a front two of Jake Cassidy and Rhys Murphy, before later throwing on Jonathan Forte and Dominic Poleon to try to find an equaliser.

“With the position we are in, I went 4-3-2 and I thought we did all right,” he added.

“The players stuck to their guns and we had a couple of half-chances. We knew we would leave gaps, but we were just trying to get something out of the game.”

The focus now switches to Saturday’s home game against Bury. Sheridan, who appears set to bring in Kevin Russell as his assistant this week, says he will have new players by the time the Shakers — who have lost their last four games — Oldham.

“A couple of faces will hopefully brighten us up and give everyone a lift,” said Sheridan.