
But Shepherd sees that as part of the challenge as they look to recover lost ground following a five-game winless run in the league.
The defender said: “You only have to look at his record to see he scores a lot of goals – not just this season but all the time he’s been at Bradford.
“He’s going to be a big miss but it’s an opportunity for someone else to come into the 11 and fight for the shirt.
We’ve got a lot of players in the squad and a lot of quality players that aren’t even getting in the team. It’s up to someone to come in, get a goal and make the shirt theirs.
“Everyone is chomping at the bit to get the opportunity and then it’s up to you really. You can’t argue anymore, it’s what you do with it.
Cook got his fifth booking of the season in the draw with Barrow to trigger a one-match ban.
Shepherd has already served his and Jamie Walker and Cheick Diabate are both currently one yellow card away from suspension. The cut-off point is after 19 league games – Swindon at home next Saturday.
Neill Byrne sits out his second match tomorrow after his FA Cup dismissal at Morecambe. Shepherd has plenty of sympathy for his back-three partner.
“We tried appealing it and, personally, it’s not a red card in my eyes. The ref’s given it but it was very, very soft.
“I’ve had my fair share of decisions and got my one-game suspension from five yellow cards. But you can’t really say too much about the refs.
“It’s the inconsistency. The rules aren’t really set in place – you do one thing and get a booking, you do it the next week and you don’t.
“It’s like they make the rules up as they go along but we can’t do anything about it.”
City recovered to grab a point in midweek but it was a flat display that brought plenty of criticism. They will need to buck up against fourth-placed Crewe, who are unbeaten in their last nine games.
Shepherd admitted: “We were too lackadaisical, too slow at times and not really putting the pressure on. But it was good resilience in the end to get a point.
“You see us training well and there’s good competition for places with people coming back now.
“It’s just a team thing from one to 11 and something we need to look at and improve on.
“I think we can get going again. There are a lot of games so it’s a quick turnaround.
“The positive thing about football is that you’ve always got another game to put it right. That’s what we’re going to aim to do at Crewe.
“They are going well at the moment but every game in this league is tough. They are right up there so it’s going to be a battle and we’ve got to put on a good show.”