RORY McArdle insists it will be a case of mind over matter as City plot further progress in the Checkatrade Trophy against Cambridge tonight.

Valley Parade's two lowest crowds for 35 years saw the group wins over Stoke under-23s and Bury and the League Two club's visit in the second round will again be played in front of a small audience.

But with Accrington ending City's interest in the FA Cup at the opening stage last month, the Bantams have no excuse not to be fully switched on for another low-key encounter.

McArdle said: "It's important that motivation comes from within. You've got to get your head round it before the game. You know it's not going to be a Saturday league game with 18,000 there and you just have to deal with it.

"Nobody goes into a game thinking 'we don't want to be in this'. You can hear all the echoes of the players shouting and it is different. But everyone has played in that type of atmosphere, whether it's a reserve game or you go away from home to teams with not many fans there.

"Do the things right and start the game well as if it was a normal day in the league. Hopefully that will be enough to get us over the line."

McArdle, who will again deputise for skipper Romain Vincelot, feels City must have a genuine chance in a competition which traditionally takes a long time to get going.

"You look at the teams left and, without being disrespectful to anyone in the competition, you aren't going to get the massive draw like you could in the FA Cup," said the defender.

"You can argue that anyone can go on and get to the final, so there is a realistic chance of having a day out at Wembley. Look at how well we've been playing.

"Everyone was disappointed to lose to Accrington in the FA Cup and it's something we need to learn from. We never got a foothold in the game.

"In order to combat that we need to start well and treat it just as we would a league game with three points at stake. If we do that, we know we've got enough quality in the squad to hurt teams."

Tony McMahon is set to make his City comeback from the bench but Billy Clarke's calf is still delaying his return. Having blooded youngsters in the group stages, Stuart McCall will now turn to experience.

With £20,000 for the winners of the last-32 tie, assistant boss Kenny Black admitted the financial implications will play a factor.

Black said: "In this day and age, finances are very important. We're very aware of the revenue we've lost by coming out of the League Cup and FA Cup very early.

"Some teams have frowned upon the competition – but we've suffered by losing the two cup games against Accrington and now we want to put that right.

"We take a lot of positives from what happened to Barnsley last year. They had a difficult start to the season and all of a sudden get to Wembley, win the competition and end up promoted."

Black watched Cambridge hammer Coventry 4-0 on Sunday to book their FA Cup third-round clash with Leeds.

He said: "This competition might not be high on their agenda but their form has certainly picked up recently. It's about momentum, which is something we're looking for.

"We've had two defeats in the last three and we want to get back on track. We're coming into an important part of the season over Christmas and New Year and we'd like to do that on the back of a victory. It will help confidence."

City (possible): Sattelmaier, Darby, McArdle, Clarke, Kilgallon, Dieng, Cullen, Morais, Vuckic, Marshall, Hiwula.