STUART McCall is banking on City’s attacking unpredictability to shoot down League One’s last unbeaten home record.

The Bantams have already knocked off similar runs at Wigan and Shrewsbury among their seven wins on the road.

And this weekend they are aiming to become the first away team to take three points from Southend since MK Dons on Easter Monday.

McCall sent out a very attack-minded side in the 4-3 thriller with Rochdale.

City are unlikely to take such an open approach to Roots Hall but McCall believes they possess enough threats going forward to rattle any opponent.

He said: “We’re scoring different types of goals. Obviously set-pieces were key again last Saturday but another goal came from a cross and one from a pass played through.

“It’s always good when you know you’ve got various threats. We’re not just relying on one way to score a goal.

“We’ve got pace in behind, set-plays, pass and move, crosses. We’re not predictable or one-dimensional.”

Dominic Poleon returned with a goal against Dale as McCall reshuffled his front two. Paul Taylor moved to the left wing but was given licence to roam, making him difficult to pin down.

McCall added: “We don’t want Tayls to be stuck on the left and having to track the right back. It limits him.

“Obviously you keep the shape when we lose possession. But when we’ve got it, you want him on the ball.

“We try and give him a bit of freedom and he thrives on that. He had three or four shots at goal again last week.”

Including both Poleon and Taylor adds more pace to City’s frontline – and that could be a big weapon in unlocking Southend’s defence.

“It’s been Taylor and (Charlie) Wyke for a while and they’ve been a good little partnership,” said McCall.

“But we just felt we’d throw Dom in and give Tayls that freedom to get on the ball.

“Whereas if Charlie’s coming deeper, we need runners to go in behind the defence and Dom does that as well. Charlie slid him and Gilly (Alex Gilliead) through on one-on-ones as well as Tyrell (Robinson) for his goal.

“Southend have got a really strong home record, although we know the 3-0 scoreline flattered them last year.

“We’ll go there with confidence on the back of some good away performances. To win at the top two, you’ve got to be confident.

“But we know we’ve still got to go out and perform and keep the consistency going.”