Graham Alexander on Corry Evans' exit from Bradford City

The Northern Ireland left Valley Parade after making nine appearances in a three-month stay.

The 34-year-old midfielder is looking to rebuild his career after missing over a year through injury at previous club Sunderland. Alexander believes Evans can do that elsewhere.

“We can see the quality in his play,” he said. “He’s a good player who’s played at a great level.

“We were looking to get him a run in the team at that particular time. He just picked up that little niggle and it coincided with Patto (Alex Pattison) returning as well.

“Unfortunately for Corry, when Patto got suspended he missed that opportunity to maybe get a few games under his belt.

“It was more of a mutual thing looking at the squad at the moment. Corry was aware of it as well.

“I had a good chat with Corry and he obviously wanted to come here and play as many games as possible. It’s not happened for one reason or another.

“I think it’s best for both sides to thank each other for the opportunity and move on.”

Evans came off with a calf injury against Swindon last month after starting consecutive games for the first time in nearly two years.

Alexander senses he wants to prove to himself that he still has plenty to offer having been out for so long.

“He will do. When Corry first came in, his whole mentality was that he hadn’t given up on his career and still wanted to enjoy his football and be successful.

“If he’d had a longer-term contract, maybe he could have taken a bit of time to get up to speed. But with the short-term notion of the deal, he had to push himself to play games.

“I’m sure he’ll go and get games elsewhere and continue to enjoy his football. He’s a brilliant professional, really popular with the players and we wish him all the best.”

Paul Huntington is expected back in training next week but won’t be ready to be involved against Aston Villa under-21s in the Vertu Trophy.

The veteran centre half’s current deal runs out at the end of the month.

“We hope he’ll start training within the next week to 10 days,” added Alexander. “Fingers crossed because the date of his contract is later in January.

“He’s had a bit more exposure than Corry to regular football. He had that little niggle which we can understand with his history of not having a club for a while.

“We’ll speak with Hunty nearer the time.

“We’ll hopefully having him back out training by the Villa game but he’ll have missed three weeks or so. We’ll nurse him back properly but he’s desperate to get back out there.

“He says he’s feeling a lot better day by day.”