Dyche refuses to blame Bradford City defeat on bad luck or poor refereeing decisions

Cobblers defender Max Dyche refused to use bad luck or a poor refereeing decision as an excuse for Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to Bradford City.

The young centre-back was deemed to have fouled Andy Cook in stoppage-time – harshly in many people’s view – and that proved costly with Romoney Crichlow scoring the winner from the subsequent free-kick.

"I'm not going to talk about luck,” said the 20-year-old, who had equalised with his first Cobblers goal earlier in the second-half. “Decisions can go either way in football. It happens and it's unfortunate but it's just poor defending from ourselves at the end of the game.

"There was a lapse in concentration and that's let them in the back door and given them a big win. Credit to them, they are a good team with good players and they are always a threat.

"We knew we had to keep the back door shut, we didn't and that will be a big thing next week, but we created a lot of chances and there are plenty of positives and we need to carry that through into the next game.”

Cobblers were backed by a sold-out Sixfields on Saturday and they will be roared on by over 2,000 supporters at Prenton Park on Monday.

"It's fantastic to have sold so many tickets and the away support has always been unbelievable,” Dyche added. “I loved going down to Leyton Orient last season and it really gives us a boost going into the game.

"They have really helped us out, especially at Sutton a few weeks ago, and they drive us on and we will need every bit of that next week.”