Bradford have a blueprint for success - Alexander
· Yahoo Sports
Bradford City boss Graham Alexander said he thought his side were "immense" after they were beaten by Bolton in the League One play-off semi-final.
The Bantams were looking to secure successive promotions, having come up from League Two last season.
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After a 2-0 aggregate defeat, Alexander said the campaign had shown that the West Yorkshire side have "the blueprint for something that can be successful.
"The biggest thing I want to create in any football team is an environment I would have loved to have been in as a player where you don't care who you are up against; you just go for it, and I think that is what we have got here," he told BBC Radio Leeds.
"I just think we need to double down on what we are; we need to improve, but I think we've got the blueprint for something that can be successful and the supporters can be part of.
"That's the challenge for us again next season."
He added: "I said to the players that we've proved with the togetherness, a good way of working, a real clarity you can prove it isn't a flash in the pan.
"To do it again at a different level shows that there is a lot of good stuff, a lot of good people at our club."
'Blown away' by support
Alexander, 54, took over at Valley Parade in November 2023 with the team 16th in League Two.
The former Scotland international made more than 1,000 appearances in his professional career and has now managed 599 matches.
He said the reception from the home fans at the end of the game had been a unique experience in his long career.
"It's really strange because the pain of defeat is pretty raw, but the pride in my players and the club - and you see that at the end of the game.
"I told the players, I have been in the game nearly 40 years, and I have never seen a reaction to a defeat like that [from the supporters]; that was something special.
"I'm gutted for everybody really because the players were immense, certainly in the second half."
He added: "When I saw how many people had stayed [at the end] and the noise and the emotion... there were a few boys with tears.
"It blew me away that people were there as if we had won. That's amazing."