EXPECTATIONS have shot up with the way City have tackled the season so far.

With only one loss from the opening third of the campaign, cautious optimism among fans has been replaced with an increasing belief that Stuart McCall’s squad are capable of mounting a sustained challenge.

Saturday’s six-goal battle royal with Sheffield United further underlined the potential within the Valley Parade dressing room – even if it did represent a third game without a win.

Nicky Law can appreciate the growing demands from the supporters and why results like last week’s 1-1 draw with Southend provoke a negative reaction.

But he certainly won’t be fazed by the growing expectancy in the stands – not after experiencing that on a grand scale with Rangers.

After playing for three years at Ibrox, no demands from supporters will ever come close.

Law recalled: “I remember when I signed and we were in the Second Division.

“Ian Durrant, who was a coach at the time, told me that if we played Barcelona that day the fans would still expect us to beat them!

“I was listening and thinking ‘what’s he on about’ but then you see it for yourself. That’s just the way it is up there.

“Expectation levels are massive, particularly at Ibrox. They’d turn up but there wasn’t really an atmosphere.

“It was more a case of ‘we’re here now and we expect the three points.’

“Even this year, the fans are expecting Rangers to win the league when it probably isn’t realistic.

“So things like a home draw with Southend are not the highest on my crisis list.”

Sheffield United, where Law began his career, probably carry the greatest weight of expectation in League One after their constant struggle to come back from the third tier.

The 3-3 draw in front of Valley Parade’s largest league crowd since 2001 would not have looked out of place at a higher level.

Law said: “The hardest thing to deal with in football is the expectation and Sheffield United probably have the most in this league.

“When I was there, it was a Premier League club and then unfortunately they just kept dropping and haven’t managed to get back up.

“But they look strong this year and have a manager (Chris Wilder) who knows how to get promotion. They will be happy with where they are – and so are we with our position.”

But reputations count for nothing, as Law learned in his time north of the border. The likes of City and Sheffield United are seen as big scalps.

Ahead of the tricky trip to in-form Wimbledon on Saturday, City’s struggle against Southend remains fresh in the midfielder’s mind. It is a timely warning.

“The way we’ve been playing and the results so far, you could maybe understand the fans probably expecting us to win games like that,” he said.

“But as we know, that’s just not the way at this level. Every game is tough and brings a different challenge.

“Southend made it as tough for us as anybody has this season. They were big, strong, tough and organised.

“The keeper kicked it a mile and if we managed to get in behind them, they brought us down. It was a well-executed game plan.

“Up to now we’ve managed to play our football round that. But there have been enough games now to watch us and see how we want to play.

“Teams are going to come up with different ways of trying to beat us and I’m sure Wimbledon will be the same.

“But there’s no doom and gloom. We’re still right up there, we’ve only lost one game this season, so if that’s as bad as it gets then I think we’ll be happy.”

Law has set himself a ten-goal target after finally breaking his duck earlier this month – but McCall reckons that could be too tall an order.

“Hopefully I can prove him wrong then,” laughed Law. “But he wants me to be scoring goals and setting them up as much as I do.

“For two of my three years at Rangers, I managed to get double figures for goals and assists. It’s always the aim.

“Whether I can do that or not is another thing but the aim is to be up there – or if not, get as close as I can.

“The way we play, I know chances will come and it’s up to me to try to take them when they do.”