STUART McCall admitted City “got what they deserved” after being held at home by lowly Southend.

Marc McNulty’s first goal for the club last night was cancelled out by Anthony Wordsworth’s second-half equaliser.

The 1-1 draw kept the Bantams in second spot but only goal difference ahead of Phil Parkinson’s Bolton.

McCall said: “Southend battled really well. They were physical and got on the second balls and made it difficult for us to play.

“We had a good 20 minutes before half-time when we managed to break the lines, get a good goal and have two or three chances.

“We were on top then but second half it ended up being very similar to before.

“But teams aren’t going to come here and let us play. I thought Southend merited their point.

“I was disappointed with the goal we lost. We had a free-kick and played a loose pass, they broke and we still had enough men to stop the cross but let the ball come in too easily.”

Rory McArdle saw his first league action of the season as McCall made four changes from the weekend loss at Oxford. James Hanson came off the bench for the final 20 minutes.

McCall added: “It was a tough game but look at some of the other results.

“It’s easy for a manager to say that but if a team comes as determined as they did, you’ve just got to battle it out.

“You need that little bit of inventiveness. At the end, Marshy (Mark Marshall) was one-on-one in the box and just needed to get a shot off but over-ran it – we just needed a bit of magic.”

James Meredith missed out with his lower-leg injury – the first league game he had not been involved in since last November.

“He’s a lot better but it was too much of a risk,” said McCall. “We probably did miss his bursts going forward.”

Meanwhile, new fitness coach Chris Short has joined the club until the end of the season.

The 46-year-old, who had been with Bolton since 2013, previously worked with McCall at Sheffield United.