Date: Saturday, 20 December 2025Location: Valley Parade
The cold at Valley Parade carried a different weight on certain nights. Not the brittle kind that snapped at your fingers, but the kind that wrapped around your ribs and pressed in, low and steady. It soaked through coats, gloves, skin. Jake Wilson stood at the edge of his technical area, feeling it settle deep in his chest, a pressure he didn't bother fighting.
Top of the league, unbeaten in ten, and Leicester had come swaggering into Bradford like victors waiting to be crowned. Their warm-up was casual, confident, a show more for the cameras than for necessity.
Jake didn't blame them. Confidence did that to teams. Made them casual. Made them vulnerable.
He turned once toward the line of players stretching out near halfway. Silva bouncing lightly on his toes, gloves tight against the chill. Roney fiddling with the tape on his wrist. Obi standing still, arms loose at his sides but every inch of him coiled.
