David Hopkin last night heaped praise on his Bantams following a “near-perfect” performance, which resulted in an emphatic 4-0 victory over Rochdale.
Goals from Nathaniel Knight-Percival, Anthony O’Connor, Eoin Doyle and George Miller capped off a dominant display for Hopkin’s men.
The City boss declared himself pleased following the final whistle, having seen his side record a third victory in five Sky Bet League One outings.
Hopkin said: “It was a fantastic performance and we thoroughly deserved the result.
“We said the most important thing was the three points but to bag four goals against a team like Rochdale takes some doing.
“I have a lot of respect for them and Keith Hill as a manager and, with that in mind, we changed our shape to adapt to their strengths.
“They have been playing very well, so adding an extra defender and midfielder allowed us to nullify their threats.
“It is one of the performances we have been working to produce since I came in and everyone deserves a lot of credit.
“It was pretty much near perfect - for 90 minutes. Four great goals and a clean sheet added emphasis to that.”
City captain Anthony O’Connor returned to the starting line-up after recovering from a foot injury, marking his comeback by scoring the Bantams’ second goal on Saturday afternoon.
Jim O’Brien was also back in the mix, replacing rested midfielder Hope Akpan.
Hopkin added: “It was the best performance I have seen so far – every single player was outstanding.
“Jim came into the middle in place of Hope and, despite not playing too much recently, was brilliant. It is credit to him and his fitness levels.
“We saw in the game the physical and mental fitness of the players has very much improved. We are starting to reap the rewards.
“We were pushing to take advantage of any chance we could from the start and got the early goal through Nathaniel, which put us in a strong position.
“We know what we are capable of and now have to take it into the Accrington game, on New Year’s Day. I am confident we will.”
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