Magnificent Mo and Hartlepool United's key takeaways from Bradford City draw

For around 15 minutes there was encouragement to take away from Valley Parade after John Askey’s side played their part in a pulsating contest in West Yorkshire.

But no sooner will supporters have returned to their coaches for the trip back home than the news of Crawley Town’s opening goal against AFC Wimbledon have filtered through.

It would be the beginning of an alarming set of results involving their relegation rivals that would somewhat diminish Hartlepool’s endeavours at Bradford.

And here are some of the key takeaways from that draw at Valley Parade.

Hartlepool United’s settled side

For the third straight game under Askey we have seen Hartlepool pose more of a regular attacking threat as they went toe-to-toe with a promotion-chasing Bradford side and were worthy of their point.

And much of what we are seeing may be down to Askey being able to settle on a more regular side since his arrival.

Hartlepool have been hindered by key injuries throughout the season but we are now seeing those players back in the team on a more regular basis - Dan Dodds the latest to make his return to the starting line-up at Valley Parade.

Dodds was the only change from the draw with Northampton Town as he replaced Arsenal loanee Taylor Foran with Askey pleased by the 22-year-old’s return.

“He wasn’t out for that long so once we knew he was over his groin injury, and he’d been alright in training, we were comfortable [with the decision to bring him straight back in],” Askey said of Dodds.

“I was worried about him last week, but he’s done really well and he just gives us that little bit more strength than what Taylor would because of Taylor’s age.

“He gives us a lot, not only defensively, when he picks it up, he forces the opposition back. I was really pleased with him.”

Dodds is likely to continue in Askey’s line-up with the likes of Jamie Sterry, Edon Pruti, David Ferguson, Mohamad Sylla, Callum Cooke, Dan Kemp, Connor Jennings and Josh Umerah all appearing to have established themselves in his plans.

“We’re stronger now than what we were three weeks ago,” said Askey.

“We’re trying to get a consistent team and then when people do go out, the ones who come in know exactly what is expected of them.”

And, at the moment, that consistency in selection is producing better performances with the hope being it can soon produce even better results.

Callum Cooke and Dan Kemp continued impact

Two of those players, in Cooke and Kemp, again demonstrated their ability to impact games.

The pair have seemingly won the battle when it comes to Askey's midfield dilemma with Hartlepool’s attacking output certainly improving since they were first paired against Tranmere Rovers.

Cooke is still on the comeback trail to full fitness but was able to complete his first 90 minutes since his ankle injury, adding a second goal in three games in the process.

Much like at Tranmere, Cooke timed a late midfield run well to emphatically finish from Jennings’ lay-off against his old club while Kemp showed his individual brilliance in the second half.

The MK Dons loan star had been in and out of the first half before igniting after the break with his decisiveness in the final third when it came to his range of passing in assisting Jennings before escaping a number of challenges to score his sixth goal for the club.

Kemp had more dribbles (four) than any other player in the game and had the second most touches for Hartlepool behind Pruti.

Collectively, in the three games since Kemp and Cooke have been paired together, Hartlepool have had more attempts, with more on target (13-9), than the three games prior to that which shows they are moving in the right direction.

Likewise, you only have to analyse Hartlepool’s opening goal at Valley Parade, in which both were involved, to see the kind of improvement being made.

From Jakub Stolarczyk rolling the ball out, Hartlepool made nine consecutive passes involving Ferguson, Jennings, Pruti, Kemp and Sterry to work their way up the field before Cooke’s emphatic finish.

Magnificent Mohamad Sylla

Alongside Cooke and Kemp, however, Hartlepool have a player who is maybe peaking in form at the right time in Sylla.

The Frenchman has been given the nod over captain Nicky Featherstone and, at the moment, is justifying Askey’s call.

Sylla won more interceptions than any other player along with making the joint-most blocks alongside Bradford’s Richie Smallwood, with the 29-year-old winning 100 per cent of his loose ball duels as per Wyscout.

Sylla’s heat map, coupled with the positions of his interceptions (figure 1), shows how important he can be in screening the defensive three in games whilst also demonstrates his ability to be more dynamic in terms of getting forward - as seen with his involvement in Kemp’s goal.

“He’s done really well since I’ve come in and I think it suits him where he’s playing,” said Askey.

“He breaks up a lot of attacks from the opposition but when he gets it he invariably sets us up on the attack which is great when you’ve got the forward players we’ve got.”

Bradford City’s star man

Nevertheless, sometimes in games you have to hold your hands up and credit the opposition and that was certainly the case for Bradford’s second equaliser from Andy Cook.

Having headed in his 21st league goal of the season from a set-piece which did frustrate Askey, the Pools boss acknowledged the brilliance of Cook's 22nd.

While there will be things Hartlepool could have done better, notably in stopping the cross, Cook’s execution is what makes him League Two’s leading frontman and is, ultimately, what meant Hartlepool had to settle for one point rather than three.

Wing-back threat but what expense?

As referenced, however, there are elements to Hartlepool, defensively, which will continue to worry Askey with another two goals conceded here.

Askey has reiterated how he feels the current system suits the players at his disposal but within that they can leave themselves exposed.

In Sterry and Ferguson, Hartlepool possess two of the league’s better players when it comes to advanced wing-backs. But their forward-thinking approach can leave those three centre-backs exposed when teams adjust, as we saw from Bradford.

Ferguson, as per Wyscout (Figure 2), saw just 21 of his 67 total actions coming inside his own half - something which, maybe, counted against Hartlepool in the second half as Bradford found a number of crossing angles from overloads down that side.

Likewise, just 17 of Sterry’s 47 touches, per Who Scored, came in his own half with Dara Costelloe finding space a number of times in the second half in-between Sterry and Dodds.

It’s something of a catch-22 for Askey given what both can offer going forward with Sterry involved in both goals against Bradford, whilst Ferguson assisted Umerah against Northampton last week.

With Hartlepool’s need to win games, their attacking output offers more value than their defensive duties. But it’s something which may need to be considered when managing certain phases in games.

Get the latest Hartlepool United headlines with our free football newsletter! Follow the action from the Suit Direct Stadium and beyond as we bring the sport news to you. Visit our website here to sign up!