Mark Hughes lauded a mature performance from his Bantams, as City progressed past Wrexham with a 4-3 penalty shoot-out win in the Carabao Cup Round Two at STōK Cae Ras.
The Welshman felt his side’s penalty heroics delivered “the deserved end result”, and praised his side’s mentality and continued professionalism, as City sailed in the third round for first time since 2014.
“The end result was deserved, in my view,” he said.
“It was a strong, mature performance from everyone. We defended crosses diligently and should be proud of our conduct here; it is not an easy place to come.
“We were professional from the penalty spot, and I am proud of that. You have to regroup, refocus and go again.
“We are pleased with the outcome in the shoot-out, and to do it twice, shows skill and mentality.
“It is that old cliche when it comes to a penalty shoot-out, and how it is often a lottery, but I think the right result was born out of it.
“We had a lot of chances to win it within the 90 minutes, really.
“Brad (Halliday) and Manny (Osadebe) had clear-cut chances that, if they hit the target, have a high chance of going in.
“In terms of the chances we created and the amount of them, they were far above Wrexham’s.
“Their chances were, for the most part, speculative and did not really intimidate us.
“In fairness, we should have had it finished in the 90, but it does become easier for the opposition to hang on for penalties. I am pleased with our showing, and we know what we need to do, to be even more clinical.”
The City chief looked ahead to the third round, as he eyes up the potential to bring a big top-flight side to the University of Bradford Stadium, and is pleased to have left his hometown with the victory and a pleasing performance.
“We won again this round, and now have another opportunity to get a big tie in the third round,” he added.
“I am super proud of the performance and we will be able to build on areas of our last few matches, to give our third round opponents a good go.
“It will be nice to get further in this competition, and see where our quality matches up compared to other sides in the pyramid.
“The bigger tie we get, the more it helps the club’s finances, so progressing helps the club, as a whole.
“What a night it would be to bring one of the big Premier League sides to Valley Parade under the lights.”
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