Skipper Stuart McCall believes Bradford City have no reason to be downhearted following their heart-breaking defeat against promotion rivals Birmingham City.

The Bantams produced one of their best displays of the season in front of the Sky Television cameras, taking the lead through Jamie Lawrence, only to be undone by a sucker punch at the end of each half with Paul Furlong grabbing two goals to seal a 2-1 victory for the home side.

The result means both the Blues and Bolton are just one point behind second-placed City, but McCall insists his team-mates have the strength of character to bounce back.

He said: "It was a good performance and I believe we have nothing to be downhearted about. The fact is, if we keep playing like that then we will get the success we are aiming for.

"First half, it is always the same. If you are 1-0 up then you need that second goal. We didn't get it and obviously they got a massive lift from the equaliser just before the break.

"The second half was probably more even so it is very disappointing. The pitch suited us but we just couldn't kill them off.

"We are down because we know the performance merited more than we got. If we had played poorly then we would have reason to be downhearted, but that was not the case.

"With regards the First Division table, a point would have been a great result but football-wise we couldn't have done much more.

"We now have two big games at home and must focus on them. If we play like we did against Birmingham then I think we will do OK."

Relieved Blues boss Trevor Francis conceded his side had been 'extremely lucky' to secure their dramatic win.

Francis said: "I cannot remember playing as we did yesterday and winning the game. It was a poor performance but a good result.

"Bradford are second in the table on merit and they showed why they are in this position.

"They are a well-organised and play with a nice, compact 4-4-2 formation. They were the better side on the day and they have every reason to be bitterly disappointed."

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