"Highly unlikely" - Major Bradford City fears raised over Andy Cook after season-ending injury | OneFootball

The Bantams striker is out for the season with an ACL injury and at 34, his recovery process may not be easy.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

On the first day of 2025, Bradford City were dealt a significant blow when talisman Andy Cook went down in the early stages of their clash with Barrow - with what was later confirmed as a season-ending ACL injury.

Losing a seasoned EFL goalscorer will always be a crucial loss for any side, but the Bantams have adapted impressively well to life without the man who has finished as their top scorer in each of their last four seasons.

A run of just one loss from 15 league games in the aftermath of the New Year period has propelled Graham Alexander’s side firmly into contention for automatic promotion from League Two.

Consecutive 1-0 losses in their last two outings have brought that run to a resounding halt.

However, such is the unpredictability of the fourth division this term, it has done little to harm the Bantams’ chances of securing a return to the third tier for the first time since 2019.

Bradford City: Future Andy Cook fears outlined after ACL injury

Cook has been a huge goal threat in the lower leagues for many years now. It wasn’t until fairly late on in his career that he got his first taste of the Football League, but he’s certainly taken his chance over the last few seasons.

He was a prolific marksman in the National League for Tranmere Rovers, before stepping up to EFL level with Walsall in 2018/19. Since then, the frontman has consistently been towards the top of the goalscoring charts in League Two.

He plundered 28 league strikes for the Bantams in the 2022/23 campaign, and followed that up with another 17 last time out. He had already hit 12 from just 22 games this season, before suffering his injury.

The Liverpudlian is also effective at providing for others, and his strong link-up play has seen him amass 16 assists over the last three seasons.

However, with the striker now 34, there are question marks over whether he will ever be able to truly recover from an injury as severe as his current issue. He is currently expected to be out until the opening months of next season at a minimum.

With that in mind, we asked FLW’s resident Bantams fan pundit, Boris Thomson, whether he feels Cook is likely to be able to recover from his injury.

Boris said: “I think it’s highly unlikely due to his age and the style of player he is, being such a big physical presence, that he’ll ever recover from this injury.

“We all know how bad ACL injuries can be for players, so it’s probably pretty unlikely that he will recover.

“But I don’t think I’ll be too devastated for him. He’s had a very long and successful career in the Football League and he’s been a massive part of what we’ve been able to achieve this season.

“In the first half of this season, and across the whole of last year, Cook probably scored as many goals as the rest of the team combined. But I do think that he will struggle to get back to his best and the level he was at before his injury.”

Bradford City could yet get promoted without Andy Cook, but his presence has been a miss recently

Despite several fans around the league predicting Alexander’s men to struggle without Cook, if anything, it appears to have galvanised them.

The striker hasn’t played since the clash with his former club Barrow on New Year’s Day, but the West Yorkshire outfit have got themselves into a fantastic position as we near the close of the season.

Bradford have cut the gap between themselves and table-toppers Walsall to just three points, while also opening up a three-point cushion between themselves and Doncaster Rovers in fifth place.

With just nine games of the season left to play, it feels as though at least two of the three automatic promotion places in League Two are there for the taking, if any of the sides around the top seven can string together a good run of form.

Every game is undoubtedly crucial at this stage of the season, but Bradford have several ‘six pointers’ that could stand in the way of them and a potential return to the third tier.

Alexander’s men still have to face Colchester, Port Vale, Crewe, Notts County, Chesterfield and Doncaster before their face is decided, and with all of those sides chasing a play-off finish or better, the Bantams look set for some massive games over the next few weeks.

It cannot be argued though that after back-to-back defeats, Cook's target man-esque physical presence has been well and truly missed - City's forwards need to step up between now and the end of the 2024-25 season.