Wanderers might have excelled for 75 minutes at Bradford but it's what happened in the other 15 that must have dominated Colin Todd's thoughts in the wake of the 4-2 win.

The Burnden boss has no fears about his adventurous attacking policy continuing to wreak havoc in the Division One promotion race.

Nor does he have any major worries about the quality of defenders he has in his squad, although he is rumoured to be looking for full-backs.

But any manager would be perplexed if he saw his team show such overwhelming superiority over struggling opponents then suddenly drop their guard and concede two "soft" goals in the space of just four minutes.

Fortunately Wanderers had too much firepower for beleaguered Bradford and confirmed their strength with a second half trouncing.

But Todd admitted he was relieved to get his players together for a half-time pep-talk.

"Sometimes you just don't want half-time to come," he suggested, "but it came just at the right time for us.

"It gave me time to get things back in order. I still wanted them to play as they had in the first half but I stressed how important it was to tighten up at the back. "We'd had that spell of 15 minutes or so when we really didn't defend very well at all. We didn't wilt but ... I just asked them to keep a clean sheet in the second half and they did."

It isn't the first time Todd has expected more of his experienced defensive hands. At Southend, for instance, he'd seen his players twice come from behind and with the interval score 2-2, he thought they'd go on to at least take a point. It sounds crazy looking back on a 5-2 defeat but they were good enough to claim all three.

Just as the Southend game could easily have ended differently, so could the game at Bradford.

The fifth goal in each case was crucial. Southend got it at Roots Hall, Wanderers got it at Valley Parade.

There are lessons to be learned from both games. Todd has got Wanderers playing exciting, attractive, attacking football. In terms of quality, they have been head and shoulders above the opposition in every game but they do tend to give teams a chance.

Fortunately they have experienced, talented defenders and a goalkeeper capable of holding their own under pressure.

If only they could stay focused and keep their concentration when they aren't under pressure ...

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