Cheick Diabate holds up hand at first home loss for Bantams

Diabate produced the tackle of the match with a perfectly-timed intervention in the City box as Kyle Hurst broke clear on goal.

But he was also culpable for the Doncaster opener, allowing a long clearance from Billy Sharp to bounce – which Hurst seized on to set up Luke Molyneux to score.

The breakthrough came early in the second half during a period when City were in the ascendancy.

Diabate said: “That just shows you how quick momentum can shift in football. We were on top for a bit and then their goal came out of nowhere.

“But we’ve got to do better in that situation, me personally as well.

“They are a good team who set up well and hit us on the counter. We dealt with that better in the first half but not so good in the second.

“It was a tough result to take and we’ll have to look back on the game and see what we could have done better.”

It was the first time the Exeter loan defender has suffered defeat at Valley Parade as City’s nine-match unbeaten home run ended in a 2-1 loss.

But Diabate saw some encouragement from the late rally that nearly salvaged a point after Andy Cook had pulled one back.

“We’ve been so good at home but we just weren’t at it. We put some pressure on them at the end of the game and got a goal back.

“The boys fought to the end but it wasn’t enough.

“Maybe if we’d had a bit longer we could have got a second. We went down fighting so that shows the spirit.

“Even the boys that came on affected the game so that’s a positive you can take from it. But it wasn’t our day.”

Diabate is enjoying a regular run in the City side since arriving from League One on deadline day.

After sitting on the bench at Grimsby, he has started all 12 games since – although back-to-back yellow cards means he is one of three players one booking away from a ban.

Fellow centre half Jack Shepherd was shown his fifth yellow, ruling him out of the next league game at Fleetwood a week on Saturday.

Jack Shepherd will miss the trip to Fleetwood on November 9 (Image: Tom Pearson)

Diabate is happy to see the return of Neill Byrne, another of the trio sat on four bookings, which has allowed Graham Alexander to revert to his preferred defensive set-up.

“We’re better suited playing in a back three, which is what the gaffer’s been working on from preseason,” added Diabate.

“Obviously you need to change shape sometimes because of injuries or whatever. But it’s good to have Byrner back because he’s a big player for the squad.

“I feel I’ve settled in well now and I’m just looking to keep improving.

“Your goal’s always to get promoted at the start of the season. We’ll take it game by game and not focus on that too much.

“It’s about winning the next game and concentrating on what’s in front of us.”

City switch their attention to the FA Cup this week ahead of Saturday’s first-round tie against National League Aldershot and Diabate is keen to progress.

“League games are the best for me but the FA Cup is a great competition.

“That’s our next game and it would be nice to have a good cup run.”