STUART McCall is calling on City to stay focused on themselves but admits it’s tough to see rivals stocking up on players.

A third loss on the bounce at Bristol Rovers on Saturday prolonged a troubling January for the fifth-placed Bantams.

That has not been helped by the failure to bring in transfer-window recruits so far – a situation not expected to change before tomorrow’s tricky Yorkshire derby at Rotherham.

City are confident something will happen this week with a signing but for now McCall must rally his current squad to turn the tide.

He said: “Sometimes it can naturally be a bit disheartening when you see other clubs around you bringing players in.

“We’ve got another game tomorrow and it would be nice to freshen things up.

“I would still be speaking about this if we’d won. We had a strong enough team out.

“We certainly haven’t got strength in depth. That’s plain for everyone to see.

“But whatever we’ve got at the moment, we’ve got to turn it round. We’ve got to do that with the help of the supporters.

“If we can bring in a couple of fresh faces to give everyone a lift, then that would be great.

“But if we can’t and we don’t, we just have to do the absolute maximum we can. Football can change quite quickly.

“We’ve got 18 games to go, we’ve got a points tally and we’ve got to win so many.

“We can’t keep looking behind us and seeing who’s won. We’ve got to focus on what we do.”

City are no nearer an answer from Blackpool over right back Kelvin Mellor and withdrew their interest in another League One defender last week after being quoted a £350,000 fee.

McCall had to play without a right back in the 3-1 defeat to Bristol Rovers. Jacob Hanson spent the weekend in hospital with glandular fever and the injured Tony McMahon’s situation remains up in the air.

McCall added: “We haven’t got a great deal of options – we haven’t got a fit full back in the building. Hence the shape we used.

“Out of the five full backs we had available at the start of the window, we haven’t got one.

“It’s tough. It was a long journey back from Bristol and time to reflect on certain things.

“I’ll be honest. I’m not on social media or forums.

“It probably does create a head of steam but I don’t get caught up in that sort of thing.

“Other people might do and maybe the players do but I’d advise them not to.

“You win a game you’re the best team in the world and the best manager. You lose one and you’re the worst.

“Different things can alleviate the negativity, fresh faces and people coming back from injury. But mainly it’s getting the results on the pitch.

“We aren’t going to lose our focus. The quicker we get back to putting a three-pointer on the board the better.”

McCall had hoped City could have added to their squad after the Northampton defeat the week before.

But once again, he insists there is no time to dwell on what might have been as they prepare to face a Rotherham team now four points behind them.

He said: “I’m not disappointed. If you get people in, it gives everyone a lift – if you don’t, you crack on with what you’ve got.

“I’ll never make excuses. It’s my job and our job as a dressing room to get the best out of each other and drive each other on.”