Lightbourne: ‘Nahki can hold his head high’

Nahki Wells can hold his head high even though Bradford City were crushed 5-0 by Swansea in the Capital One Cup final at Wembley today.

That was the assessment from both former Coventry pro Kyle Lightbourne and Bermuda Hogges owner Paul Scope, who watched the game at the Robin Hood pub.

Lightbourne said Wells “worked hard but he didn’t have too many opportunities. Swansea just dominated the game so it was backs against the walls for Bradford so he didn’t have too many touches.

“He had probably about four touches in the game, which is unfortunate but Swansea is just on its game today.”

Lightbourne said there will be some aches in the locker room afterwards but when Wells gets a chance to reflect about Bradford City’s whole run, he’ll feel better about what they accomplished.

“When he looks back on it he’ll say ‘We had a fantastic Cup run but on the last game we didn’t perform they way we have been performing as a team.

“It’s just one of those things.”

He said Swansea ran rampant in the match “but all the players from Bradford can hold their heads high because they knocked out some good teams on the way to the finals. His reputation has grown tremendously.”

Scope said it was a “huge disappointment” when Nahki came off after the goalkeeper was shown the red card.

“I’m very proud that he played a big part in the Bradford City getting to Wembley — it’s still historic.

“Swansea are a very good team and once they opened up it was always going to be difficult, but you can’t take anything away from them getting to Wembley.

“It’s still a great occasion and I’m sure a lot of Bermudians are disappointed right now, but when they reflect they’ll realize what an achievement it is to get there.”

Scope said it was no reflection on Nahki’s performance that he was taken off.

“To be fair to Nahki, he would say the same thing — he’s hardly had a look in because the way the game’s developed and with their goalkeeper getting sent off, they had to bring a goalkeeper on.

“They’ve obviously sacrificed a forward, which is the usually thing. I would have preferred to see a midfield player taken off when you’re three or four goals down, but the manager is obviously trying to stem the flow and not get too embarrassed.”