Parkin praises ground staff

Bradford assistant manager Steve Parkin saluted the club's ground staff after his side's 1-1 draw with Walsall.

The pitch at the Coral Windows Stadium has been badly affected by the weather this winter and after further rain in midweek, the ground staff had their work cut out to get the game on. Despite the heavy playing surface, both teams managed to get the ball on the floor and play some entertaining football in what was a very open game. The hosts took the lead through Billy Clarke in the 51st minute, but the Saddlers got themselves back on level terms when on-loan Manchester City forward Jordy Hiwula headed in 16 minutes from time. The point lifted the Bantams into the Sky Bet League One play-off places and Parkin was grateful to the ground staff for their contribution. He said: "To be fair to the groundsman, I spoke to him on Thursday morning and it (the pitch) was completely covered in water - the whole of the pitch practically. "I think he's worked wonders to get it on to be honest. He's grafted for the last couple of days to get the game on. "It's very difficult. We don't want to be playing on a pitch like that at the end of the day. We want to be playing on pitches like the one we went to at (Leyton) Orient the other night and played some really good football. "But we've just got to get on with it - the mentality of the players has been great regarding it." Bradford went into the clash without top scorer James Hanson, Andrew Davies (both hamstring) and Filipe Morais (knee), but influential striker Jon Stead overcame an ankle injury to take his place in the starting XI. There were chances at both ends in an open first period, but neither side was able to make a breakthrough before half-time. The hosts took the game to their opponents in the second half, taking the lead six minutes after the break when Billy Clarke found the bottom corner of Richard O'Donnell's net from 25 yards out. The Saddlers drew themselves level in the 74th minute when Hiwula latched on to Jordan Cook's fine cross to head in from the right side of the box. Walsall boss Dean Smith thought his players dealt with the pitch well and felt both teams deserved a share of the spoils. He said: "I think it was a fair result on the day. "I said to the back four I thought we played a little bit too deep in the second half, but I can understand the mind-set because it always looks like a mistake on that pitch is going to cost somebody and nobody wanted to do that. "I thought we played in the right areas and that was important. "It was always going to be a second-ball game. We coped okay."