Paul Jewell has warned his Bradford City side that they must be "much braver" in front of goal if they are to avoid relegation from the Premiership.

The Bantams slipped into the bottom three yesterday for the first time in two months following a 1-0 defeat away to fellow strugglers Southampton.

City were beaten by Kevin Davies' third goal in as many games over the holiday period as Saints sealed their first home Premiership win since August.

And a disappointed Jewell fumed: "Maybe they wanted to score goals more than we did.

"The question I am asking is: 'Do we really want to score goals?' If we are not prepared to go in where it hurts, we won't score."

Jewell's side were poor in the first half but improved hugely after the break. That was not enough to placate the City boss.

He added: "I was very, very disappointed by our first half display and we knew we had to do better after half-time. We have ended up losing to a set-piece which is disappointing as well."

City won 14 corners - their highest tally in a top flight game this season - but still came away without a goal and Jewell believes his side should have taken advantage.

He said: "The balls coming in were good enough. But every time it was a Southampton shirt which got there first. I am not just taking about certain players here, there were an awful lot of players who were in and around the ball who needed to be much braver in the melees." The defeat coupled with Derby's 2-0 triumph over Watford saw City slip back into the bottom three.

However the Bantams are in league action next weekend at home to Chelsea when the rest of the Premiership is involved in the fourth round of the FA Cup. Jewell knows his side need to take advantage.

He said: "This is going to be a dog fight between now and the end of the season. We have got to dust ourselves down.

"We can't afford not to turn up for the first half like we did at Southampton."

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