Phil Parkinson feels City’s back-to-back losses have acted as a warning not to get too ahead of themselves.

Defeats against Tranmere and Crawley have checked the Bantams after their blistering first ten games back in League One.

As they prepare for tonight’s battle of the Roses at Preston, Parkinson admitted: “Maybe we’ve all started looking above us and thinking about that, instead of focusing on what we need to do in every game.

“Obviously we’ve lost some key players, which hasn’t helped with the fluency we had at the start of the season.

“But I thought we did everything possible to win the game against Tranmere. At Crawley, we weren’t at the races as much as I would have liked but we still should have got something.

“But you look at the way we played at Gillingham and Walsall and there was certainly a difference. We have to get back to matching that work ethic.”

Parkinson blamed his side for being too open in West Sussex and will be looking for a far more disciplined response in front of a noisy Deepdale.

He said: “It’s about taking the good things from Saturday and adding to them. We looked to create but we were too open, and as a manager you want both sides of the game.

“It’s important that we play in a more disciplined fashion tonight.

“We dominated the start on Saturday and probably felt it was just going to happen for us. The longer the game went on, the more disregard we gave to our recovery runs and reaction when the ball changed hands.

“Your attacking play starts off with your defensive shape. The video doesn’t lie and we showed that to the lads yesterday.

“Sometimes standards do slip and we need to realign them.”

Preston boss Simon Grayson has taken Blackpool and Leeds out of the third tier and North End are among the promotion favourites this season. They currently sit a point above City.

Parkinson said: “It’s a good test for us. They had a setback themselves, losing three games in a row, but bounced back well to win at Gillingham on Saturday.

“We’re playing at a great stadium with a great pitch and a tremendous atmosphere. Preston is one of those traditional northern football grounds.

“It’s got that Yorkshire/Lancashire rivalry as well. The size of their club and the backing we will take will make it special and the lads are pleased we’ve got another game like this straight after Saturday.”

Centre half Matt Taylor is back training with City after his Colchester loan ran out. The U’s were keen to keep him for a second month but it is thought that they could not agree on the finances.