CHRIS Taylor is playing City catch-up after declaring: I don’t want to waste any more time.

The experienced midfielder made his first league start in Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Macclesfield after a convoluted few months.

Taylor, who initially featured for the club in pre-season, has had to be patient while the Bantams cleared through the EFL red tape to seal his short-term deal.

Read more: Simon Parker's verdict on City's draw at Macclesfield

Now he is desperate to make his mark in a team whose promotion bid has hit a slight stutter.

Taylor said: “It’s been a bit of a tough one for me. It’s not been easy but you’ve just got to keep going and remain positive.

“It’s been more than eventful and I’m just glad to be a Bradford City player now and get out there.

“Luckily the gaffer, the club and the staff have stuck by me and now I want to repay them with performances on the pitch. It’s such a big club and I want to help them win matches.

“I’ve known the lads a long while now and they are a good, honest bunch who are hoping to achieve something this year.

“Hopefully that will be the case if we cut out mistakes and finish more of our chances.”

The Bantams had targeted fourth spot with a win in the first of two games in hand on most of their top-seven rivals. But they could not take advantage after a frustrating result against their cash-strapped hosts.

Taylor added: “We’ve got to take the lead when the opportunities come. We didn’t do that and then they got one moment and went 1-0 up.

“They are quite a strong team defensively so it was always going to be tough after that to break them down.

“It was a chance to make ground up on the other teams up there and go fourth in the league. We’d have been three points off top but were fully aware of how tough it was going to be with everything that’s going on at Macclesfield.”

Taylor’s Valley Parade contract runs until mid-January and he is trying not to look any further for now.

“Of course, it’s in your mind but I’m just taking it day-by-day,” he added. “If you think too far ahead, you might come unstuck.

“I’m just enjoying it, working hard and hopefully doing all I can for the club. I felt good out but there are obviously things I can improve on.

“Each game you play, the sharper, fitter and more confident you get.”

Bowyer plans to fit in another game behind closed doors tomorrow to keep the squad ticking over.

He said: “We’ll probably look to do that for the next couple of weeks and get everybody up to match speed for the Christmas period. Then it will be play, recover, play, recover.”