Bradford boss Mark Hughes admitted his game plan went out of the window following “naive” Dan Oyegoke’s first-half red card but backed the on-loan defender to learn from the experience.
City slumped to a 1-0 defeat at Crawley after failing to recover from Will Wright’s 14th-minute opener and 20-year-old Oyegoke’s dismissal before the break.
Oyegoke, on a season-long loan from Brentford, picked up two yellow cards for fouls and was handed his marching orders in the 41st minute as Bradford’s season started on a losing note.
Hughes, whose assistant Glyn Hodges and Crawley boss Scott Lindsey were among 13 yellow cards handed out by referee Thomas Parsons, said: “The sending off cost us but Dan is a bright young man and he will learn from it.
“He was a bit naive but the point I made to the referee was that not all fouls are yellow cards
“Our game plan went out of the window; it cost us and we had to re-organise.”
Hughes was critical of his side in the manner that they conceded as Wright netted from 25 yards, and admitted: “We needed to get the wall right and we didn’t line it up correctly.
“There weren’t too many clear-cut chances in the game and all in all it was disappointing.”
Reds manager Lindsey took most pleasure from observing that hard work on the training ground paved the way to victory.
Lindsey admitted he had to play in a different way after taking over in January in order to secure Crawley’s league status.
He said: “I congratulated the players afterwards and told them if they play like that against 11 men they will be fine.
“We scored a good goal and we’re very strong defensively. They threw a lot at us.
“They have their threats with (Andy) Cook and I felt we dealt with it perfectly. I’m pleased with the afternoon’s work.
“The most pleasing aspect was that the work we did on the training ground was evident.
“The players were low on confidence when I came in and I had to do things against my beliefs to get us the wins that we needed.
“But now I’ve got players on the training ground who can do what I’m asking them to do and it can only bode well for the future.”
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