GRAHAM Alexander felt City took their foot off the gas to let a winning position slip at Cheltenham.

Neill Byrne’s early header put the Bantams ahead but they allowed the home side to fight back for a 1-1 draw last night.

City dominated the second half but could not find another goal despite plenty of pressure.

Alexander was delighted with the response after the break – having accused them of easing off once they went in front in the first half.

He said: “They were worthy of the equaliser and the draw at half-time. But second half we showed our quality because we competed better on the basics.

“First contacts, second balls, we used our body better and it gave us a control over an opponent we’d lost grip of in the first half.

“We started well, we were at it and took the lead. But I don’t know if we then took our foot off the pedal thinking we could just get through the rest of the game in second gear.

“The obvious answer is that we can’t and they came more into it. They secured possession up front and won the first contacts and were better than us at that.

“But we challenged the players at half-time to overcome that. The second half was really good, really dominant and we should have won the game from there.

“We certainly had enough pressure on their goal but couldn’t find that finishing touch.

“We have to have that killer instinct at 1-0 and get that second. Don't let that easy gene drop into your mind.

“Once you start thinking this header isn’t important or I don’t have to secure that possession, all these little duels that go one way or the other add up to momentum.

“I was quite happy to go in at 1-1 because I knew we could get a response from the players.

“The second half was more like us. We showed courage and composure in possession but we competed at a better level.”

Cheltenham equalised with a 30-yard blast that flew through a crowd of players following a corner. Keeper Sam Walker only saw it late and Alexander said those in front of him should have dealt with it better.

“I can’t put any blame on Sam because he hardly saw it,” added the City chief.

“I think we should have emptied the box a bit quicker. The pass from the corner has gone quite far out almost 30 yards and some of us are still in the six-yard box.

“We needed to get more pressure on the striker but the one who was supposed to do that got blocked by one of their players.

“They worked it well but I still think we can get closer to the ball as a group and it’s got to hit one of us before it even gets towards the goal.”

Clarke Oduor and Tyreik Wright were missing from Saturday. Oduor travelled but was unable to play because of a bruised ankle.

Alexander said: “He was here but he took a whack on his ankle on Saturday. He travelled down but it was too sore for him to play.”

Wright, Oduor and Jay Benn are all hopeful of returning against Doncaster at the weekend.