Relieved Stuart McCall dodged a bullet and then urged City to use Saturday’s smash-and-grab win at Torquay as a turning point.

The board were ready to pull the trigger on McCall’s reign if the Bantams failed to take three points from the Devon strugglers.

But two late goals from Gareth Evans – the second in stoppage time – saw City steal their first victory since early December.

McCall admitted his side, who were outplayed for most of the game, had ridden their luck but deserved the break.

He said: “It’s not before time because we’ve come away from so many games this season when we’ve not got what we deserved.

“The longer you go on a run that we’ve been having, naturally the confidence and sparkle isn’t going to be there.

“We just needed something to give us that bit of belief because it’s such a big part of football.

“You saw the dressing room afterwards and would think we’d won the cup. Everyone was so pleased for myself and for each other.

“It’s only three points but it could be the most important three points of the season for what it does to the belief of the players and supporters.”

Evans, who had not scored since November, said the players were desperate to ease the heat on McCall.

The striker added: “The gaffer’s been fantastic to me since I joined the club and I’ll do anything in my power to keep him in a job.

“Hopefully those two goals have helped him and we can get rid of all the demons now and make something of our season.”

McCall knows he is still under pressure but has vowed to keep on fighting. He said: “I’ll always do what’s best for the club. We needed to win and if we hadn’t done, who knows what might have happened.

“But I still believe that if we get all the players back and the confidence levels rise, things will run for us.

“There are still another 20 games to go and who knows what lies ahead. I’ve seen teams go on great runs from nowhere.

“We’ve got to take all the confidence out of this and hopefully come out next Saturday against Bury in front of a believing crowd.”