Bradford recovered from their humiliating defeat at Blackpool by taking a hard-earned point from a goalless draw with 10-man Shrewsbury at the Northern Commercials Stadium.
The third-placed visitors lost Omar Beccles, who had been booked in the first half, to a red card for his reckless tackle on former Shrews defender Nat Knight-Percival in the 60th minute.
Sky Bet have pushed Shrewsbury out from 3/2 to 7/4 to win promotion after the 0-0 draw.
Paul Hurst's Shrews are four points behind Wigan and Blackburn, League One's top two.
Shrewsbury enjoyed the game’s first attempt, Colin Doyle pushing away Alex Rodman’s 20-yard effort in the sixth minute, but after that visiting goalkeeper Dean Henderson made two crucial saves in the space of three minutes to prevent Bradford from going in front.
Stephen Warnock’s cross from the left found Charlie Wyke unmarked just beyond the far post and the striker headed the ball back into the middle where Alex Gilliead reacted first to deliver a goalbound shot which Henderson did well to turn over the crossbar in the ninth minute.
The resulting corner was not properly cleared and Henderson was forced to concede another corner as he turned away Warnock’s shot.
Bradford continued to look the more dangerous side, but there was an anxious moment for them in the 37th minute when Shaun Whalley found Jon Nolan in a great position with a long pass from the right.
Nolan looked to be a certain scorer, but Doyle managed to stop his goalbound shot with his legs.
Whalley also supplied another good chance for Nolan in the 56th minute, but Doyle dived to turn away his goalbound shot.
Wyke had the chance to win the game for Bradford in the 73rd minute, but he headed narrowly over from Tony McMahon’s cross.
Related football links
