JAMES Meredith can still recall the critics on social media questioning why he wanted to swap York for Valley Parade.

The Australian marked his 200th start in a City shirt in the recent win at Coventry.

But for a couple of lengthy absences in his first two seasons through illness and injury, Meredith would have played a lot more.

He has made the left-back slot his own personal property since swapping North Yorkshire for West in 2012.

Meredith said: “It feels like a good part of my career has been spent here. It’s a brilliant feeling to be officially a 200 man.

“When you look back to where I started before in League Two, I’d just signed for the club when we’d come off the back of a bad year near the bottom of the table.

“I remember some of the tweets about making a ‘sideways’ move from York. I got a lot of stick from the fans.

“When we played them in that first season, they were shouting Judas. That surprised me because I’d played for them for three years and been to Wembley.

“But looking back, you realise how far we’ve come. We got promoted and have had some good years with cup runs and strong sides.

“Now we’re into the new era with the change of owners and the nice style of football we play and we’re up the top again pushing for a promotion.

“Bradford have kicked on well – and will continue to kick on.”

Tomorrow’s televised trip to Scunthorpe almost has the feel of a play-off eliminator, with both sides right in the mix for the top-six finish.

As a veteran of 2013 and last season, Meredith has the experience of knowing exactly what to expect from the business end of the campaign – and how to deal with it.

“It’s all about grinding out the wins as you come towards the end of the season,” he said.

“Pitches will start getting a bit better but they won’t be fantastic like in pre-season or at the start, so you’ve got to do all the basics right.

“A lot of players also tend to get a bit leggy towards the end of the season. They aren’t as sharp, so you’ve got to be as professional as possible.

“You have to look after your body. It’s strange because even when you do get the rests, it’s almost like a slow build-up of exhaustion.

“You’ve got to eat right, get in your sleep and do all of that side of the game correctly.”

City have shown remarkable consistency to remain in the top six since the second week of the season. Meredith sees that as proof that they can cope with the stress of looking to stay the pace as the tension builds.

He said: “With seven games left, if anything the pressure will be on those teams at the top.

“I think we’re expected to finish in and around the play-offs because of where we’ve been all season.

“The heat is on for those at the top. They’ve got it all to lose with automatic promotion.

“So from that point, I think there’s a little bit of pressure off us, although we want to finish strongly to end up as high as we can.

“Second place is still possible but that depends on how the run-in goes with other teams as well. The play-offs are obviously more realistic with the position we’re in.

“But we know we play good football and we’ll be strong contenders in and around the mix.”