Aidan Davison is backing relegation Houdinis Grimsby to escape again. But the City keeper will give his old club no helping hand at Blundell Park tomorrow.

The re-arranged clash is another key date in the struggle to beat the drop. The Bantams start three points ahead with a game in hand.

A win would not only lift City above Walsall, who are in FA Cup action, but also open up a valuable gap above the drop zone.

Davison said: "We can't afford to lose any ground. We have to win tomorrow, it's as simple as that.

"This is a huge game for both sides. I do believe that Grimsby have enough to get out of trouble, but we have to make sure we give them absolutely nothing.

"We've got two massive matches in the next month, at Grimsby tomorrow then at home to Brighton. If we can get the full six points from those then it will go a long way to making sure we are safe."

The well-travelled keeper has had an up-and-down campaign. Having come into the team early through Gary Walsh's injury, he limped off against Coventry in September after tearing a thigh.

That sidelined him until mid-November and when Davison did return, he soon lost his place to on-loan Boaz Myhill.

But the England under-20 international had a miserable time between the sticks and after just two games out, Davison found himself restored to the senior side.

With Walsh coming back to fitness, Davison gave a timely reminder of his ability at Rotherham last week, although the 3-2 defeat took the gloss off his personal performance.

Davison said: "Going into that game I thought we would get three points, no problem. But we just didn't play at all.

"Rotherham are so strong and physical and it's very easy to get sucked into their style of play. Unfortunately we fell into that trap and started just lumping the ball long which isn't our style.

"I made a few saves but I was too busy for my own liking. That kind of game you know you are going to be under pressure from corners, free-kicks and long throw-ins.

"But I'd have rather have had a more comfortable afternoon and been called upon less often if it had meant us nicking the result."

But Davison, like his team-mates, remains supremely confident that City can avoid being dragged into a desperate battle to stay up.

"You look round our dressing room and everyone has the belief that we will survive. We know we have the ability to pull out of it and do a lot better than our position suggests at the moment.

"Nobody has a divine right to go and win but we are convinced this team is good enough to pull well clear of the danger zone."