MARK Trueman smiled when asked if he has been given any assurances about his City position.

“Win football matches,” replied the caretaker boss ahead of tonight’s home clash with Harrogate.

It may not appear the biggest Yorkshire derby on the calendar but there is no denying the significance of the Valley Parade outcome for the Bantams – or the man currently in caretaker charge.

Saturday’s 2-0 defeat at Oldham failed to provide the bounce the club had hoped for when Trueman succeeded Derek Adams.

And a fourth loss in six compounded the misery for fans as City embark on a run of three successive home outings.

“We know the importance of getting a result,” admitted Trueman. “Putting in a performance is key but we’ll take getting three points over that.

“We need a win and a platform to build on into the next home games that we’ve got.”

A long list of absentees, now including suspended skipper Paudie O’Connor, does not help Trueman’s “job interview” for the vacant hot-seat. With an enforced reshuffle at the back, he has hinted at a switch in formation.

But he won’t allow any uncertainty about what will happen next to distract the players from their second meeting with Harrogate in the space of 17 days.

“When a manager loses his job, there’s obviously a little bit of disruption in the camp regards to training, the way of playing, the new manager.

“But they’ve been told that I’m in as caretaker manager and will be taking the team. So, their focus is on me and what I want from them.

“We won’t use it as an excuse that things are up in the air. I’m the manager of this football club at this moment in time and we’ll do our best to win matches.”

It was only a couple of weeks ago that Derek Adams declared that the squad were “100 per cent” good enough to finish in the top seven.

But with the gap stretching to nine points, it is looking an increasingly forlorn objective.

Trueman said: “While there’s mathematically a chance for us to get in the play-offs, we will push.

“We know we’ve got the squad to do it. The players that get the shirt will have to perform because they know there are others coming back from injury who will be pushing to get back in that team.

“We know as a group of players and as a coaching staff how big a result will be and hopefully that changes the momentum of our season.”

Trueman is trying to alter City’s approach so they are “more aggressive” and press higher up the pitch than they did under Adams.

“You can’t go from one way to the other straight away. It’s a different situation from last year when I took over.

“We are playing a certain way this season and these changes aren’t going to happen overnight. We had one real session before we went into the game on Saturday.

“I want to get pressure on the ball high up the pitch. We dropped too early too quick.

“It’s changing that mentality of players from dropping off the game to going up and playing a bit higher with our line. That’s going to take time but we’ve got to do it.

“We need to give the fans something that they want and that’s energy, work rate and aggression but also be good on the ball in the right areas.

“We’ve got to take our time and not force things which I think we’ve done in the past. We need to be a little bit more patient, especially when we get into that final third and make better decisions.”

Having played Harrogate so recently at Wetherby Road, City know the challenge facing them in front of a home crowd that could turn prickly if things don’t go according to plan.

“We know what’s ahead of us and what we’ve got to do,” said Trueman.

“It’s a fresh week and gives me chance to implement some more of what I want from the players.

“If we can get a result then brilliant and we can take that into the game on Saturday.”