ALAN Sheehan is urging City to embrace the rising expectation over their push into the play-off zone.

The Bantams, unbeaten in any competition since November 1, could extend their four-point cushion in the top six with a win over Rochdale this afternoon.

The current boom times at Valley Parade were acknowledged yesterday when Phil Parkinson and Rory McArdle scooped the League One monthly awards.

But Sheehan insists there is no reason to be fazed by the growing spotlight on the team's progress.

He said: "We're up to fifth position, unbeaten in ten games, and we're there to be shot at. We've got to try and stay there, no matter who's on the pitch.

"The expectation level is probably rising after the last couple of weeks and teams are going to raise their games even more. It's up to us to be able to handle that. It's a pressure – but a good pressure to have.

"This is a massive club that deserve to be up there and I think the fans are seeing a good brand of football this year. There's a mixture of different ages and a bit of steel – we have the squad to keep going."

Sheehan is back in the picture as cover for the injured Andrew Davies at centre half. After coming on as an early substitute against former club Notts County, he started for the first time in two months at Millwall last weekend.

After three years as a regular with Notts, the Irishman admitted that it has been a strange feeling to be reduced to sub duties. But given the team's form, he had no call to grumble.

Sheehan said: "Nobody likes to be on the bench but I realised that the team were winning. You can't complain when that's the case.

"It was my first time on the bench in four or five years, so it was new to me. But it just shows the competition for places here. I was happy to do my bit and did a lot of extra fitness work with Nick Allamby.

"I'd started in that run at Halifax, so it was not like I was left out in the cold. We've got a good squad here and everyone is going to play their part this season.

"Now I've got back in, had two good games in a row and found my form again. I'm happy going into the Rochdale game. The feel around the camp is very positive at the moment. It's an exciting place to be."

City could also be a fortnight away from a potential FA Cup fourth-round adventure to Chelsea if they can ease past Millwall in Wednesday's replay at Valley Parade. But Sheehan stressed that a dream date at Stamford Bridge is not in their thinking.

He said: "First of all there's Rochdale, then we've got Millwall – we'll concentrate on those first. We're not even going to talk about Chelsea .

"At the moment it's a fictional fixture. It's not on the radar yet. We want to beat Rochdale first and hopefully make it 11 unbeaten and hopefully take that into the Millwall game.

"We were a bit inconsistent around the start of the season but I knew we'd go on a run and was looking forward to when that happened.

"Now we're doing that and it's up to us to see how long it can go. If it comes to the stage when we lose a game, we'll just have to get back on the horse.

"There are going to be loads of road blocks in our way to get into the play-offs. But that is the aim now, there's no hiding away from that."