TONY McMahon has yet to be a part of City’s headline-grabbing cup exploits.

He first arrived at Valley Parade on loan from Blackpool in March last year, ten days after they had been knocked out of the FA Cup quarter-finals at Reading.

So McMahon will lead out the Bantams at Accrington tonight hoping to take the first step on a long road in the newly-rebranded EFL Cup.

City fell at the first hurdle on penalties to York 12 months ago in the competition where they famously reached the final in 2013. They also failed another shoot-out against Bury in the FA Cup third round.

Now McMahon is eager to grasp their latest opportunity for another attention-seeking cup journey.

He said: “We know this club’s success in the last few years has been based on good cup runs.

“We’re no different this time round. It might be different players and different management but I’m sure the gaffer won’t allow us to take our foot off the gas.

“The bread and butter is the league and we’re not going to hide away from that. We want to finish as high as possible and be successful.

“Last season was a success if you look at it as a whole. We got knocked out in the semi-final and everyone was disappointed but we did really well.

“But it would be nice (to have a cup run). We want to play as many games as we can and even better if we can add five or six cup games to the league programme.”

With Nathan Clarke and Timothee Dieng still sidelined, City will stick with the same back four that shut out Port Vale on Saturday.

McMahon was impressed at the way Romain Vincelot slotted in at centre half to cover the injuries and with Danny Devine’s midfield debut.

He added: “Vince came in and he’s probably only 4ft 2in but he was jumping eight foot! He was brilliant and didn’t put a foot wrong.

“Obviously we want our best players fit and we’ve had a lot of injuries. We’ve had no luck really.

“We were short at the back but the lads came in and did well. That’s what it’s all about, it’s a squad game and we’ll need everyone.

“They’re going to be called upon again and we’ve got to keep going. It’s relentless and we will get injuries and suspensions.”

McMahon has not only inherited the right-back slot from the unavailable Stephen Darby but also the captain’s armband.

“It’s a real honour and I was absolutely buzzing on Saturday,” he said. “My family were there and it was something I always wanted to do.

“The kids came out on the pitch with me and that’s something that will live with me forever.”