Jon McCracken in Saturday’s 2-0 home win v Stevenage notched his 9th clean sheet, in his 12 club games since his Summer transfer from Dundee to Bradford City. While selected by Seb Pocognoli for the Scotland squad for the recent international break, Pocognoli didn’t select McCracken for any of the 4 match day squads in that break. We look at McCracken’s Bradford stats to assess his claim to start for Scotland in the forthcoming internationals in November. Stats are from FotMob unless otherwise stated.
1. Jon McCracken intro card
| Age (& date of birth) | 26 (24 May, 2000) |
| SMNT caps | 0 |
| Date of most recent SMNT squad inclusion | October 2026 |
| Club | Bradford City |
| Club division | English 3rd tier |
| Club division Opta average team rating | 75.0 (44th globally) |
| Benchmark: Scots top tier Opta average team rating | 75.9 (39th globally) |
As repeatedly stated on this website, while the rating & ranking of those 2 above listed divisions fluctuate, they are consistently closely rated & ranked. Further, the Scots top flight rating & ranking is elevated by the massively higher financial resources of the Old Firm compared to all other teams in that division.
2. Jon McCracken Clean sheets
| League | League Cup | Total | |
| Games | 9 | 3 | 12 |
| Clean sheets | 7 | 2 | 9 |
| Clean sheet percentage | 77.78 | 66.67 | 75.0 |
Across the 12 Bradford games Jon McCracken has played in so far, he accrues a clean sheet in 3 out of every 4 of those 12 games. Bradford are currently top of their division with 10 goals for & only 5 against from 10 games. McCracken missed a Bradford league game while with the Scotland squad. 2nd place Stockport have a 21:11 goals for & against from their 10 league games. Bradford are top primarily because of their ability to keep the ball out of their own net. Stats illustrate McCracken plays a key part of that success so far.
3. Goals conceded
| League | League Cup | Total | |
| Goals conceded | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| Mins played | 810 | 270 | 1080 |
| Mins per goal conceded | 202.5 | 270 | 216 |
| Goals conceded per game | 0.44 | 0.33 | 0.42 |
So far at Bradford Jon McCracken concedes a goal less frequently than once every 2 games.
4. Saves
| Total saves | League | League Cup | Total |
| Total saves made | 12 | 12 | 24 |
| Average saves per game | 1.33 | 4 | 2 |
| Successful save percent | 75.00% | 92.30% | 82.75 |
In a previous article on GKs, we made the point that McCracken’s stats are helped by the relatively low number of saves he has to make per game. That though was based on league performances.
His stats improve when also including his performances in the League Cup. Those League Cup stats include 6 saves keeping a clean sheet in the 0-0 against a Burnley side from England’s 2nd tier, a division higher than Bradford. Also, Bradford won the penalty shootout 4-2 in which Burnley’s Zeki Amdouni hit the post & McCracken saved from Jacob Bruun Larsen.
5. Jon McCracken goals prevented
| League | League Cup | Total | |
| Goals prevented | 1.54 | 2.77 | 4.31 |
| Average per game | 0.17 | 0.92 | 0.36 |
McCracken’s league Goals Prevented stat alone is in the top 18% for that division. His 2.77 League Cup goals prevented is in the top 2% for that competition so far this season.
6. Errors leading to goals
| League | League Cup | Total | |
| Errors leading to goals | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Impeccable.
7. Successful passes
| League | League Cup | Total | |
| Successful passes | 108 | 29 | 137 |
| Accurate pass percentage | 41.9% | 43.3% | 42.2% |
If you look at McCracken’s stats on FotMob, out of 16 attributes he is rated green for 9 compared to his peers & amber for 6 others. The one attribute for which he is in the red zone is successful passes.
8. Conclusion
Jon McCracken is having a great season so far at Bradford. His obvious attribute in need of improvement is successful passes.
