Skipper Michael Flynn saluted City’s hardest-earned point of the season and declared: I’m so proud of this team.

The Bantams ground out a 0-0 draw at Paolo Di Canio’s in-form Swindon on Saturday despite playing the final half hour with ten men.

Andrew Davies was sent off on his return from his previous red card but City stood firm to frustrate a side who had won their previous three games.

It was the first time Swindon had been shut out at home and Flynn believes that survival spirit must now be the bench mark to drag his team up the table.

“We’ve got to be like that always, whether it’s with 11 men, ten or even nine,” he said.

“If we battle like that every week then we are going to start climbing up the league.

“But only us players can do it. It’s not down to the manager, Steve Parkin, the chairmen or the fans. We’re the ones put on that pitch and we’ve got to get it into our heads to repeat that week in, week out.”

It was only City’s fourth point in nine away games and came on the back of Tuesday’s controversial loss at Macclesfield. Flynn thought the team played better that night but Saturday was a huge test of character.

He said: “That was the best point of the season for me. It was good when we beat Torquay (with ten men) but that was at home and this was a lot harder.”

* Read full story in today’s Telegraph & Argus