IT FEELS like City are floundering out of their depth.

Having ridden the crest of a wave for so long, the tide has turned and they have been sucked under by the current.

Submerged under a miserable run of results, the fans are growing increasingly desperate to see any sign of life from a team gasping for air.

“It’s like when you fall or drown in a swimming pool,” admitted skipper Romain Vincelot. “But then you touch the bottom.

“But we still have these games to push on the legs again and come up for air.”

It is too soon to write off the season as a complete ship wreck. But with only ten opportunities left to bridge the growing gap to the play-offs, the clock is ticking on how much can be salvaged.

Seven points – with a game in hand – currently separate the Bantams from sixth. But with still no win since New Year’s Day, there is no obvious springboard to launch a recovery mission from the depths.

Like some floating jetsam offering a promise of respite, tomorrow’s home clash with Gillingham must be grabbed. Anything less than a first three-point reward in 11 games will surely seal City’s fate.

“We have to be positive at home and on the front foot,” said Vincelot, who spent a nine-game loan spell with the Gills in 2012.

“The pitch is not that great but it’s not the first time we’ve played on Valley Parade when it’s like that. I don’t think we should focus too much on it.

“We have had a blip and now we are going to need everyone because there are so many games in a short period.

“But we like to be on the pitch. Now it is very intense and we have to give everything for these last two months.”

A Saturday kick-off has become something of a rarity in City’s schedule.

After the postponements against Portsmouth and MK Dons, this will be their first “traditional” start time since Plymouth a month ago. There are only four more weekend outings after tomorrow.

It has meant a fluid training schedule for Simon Grayson – and some time off on unexpected days for the players.

Lower-league footballers are not used to free Saturdays, although don’t expect Vincelot to spend the afternoon stuck in front of Jeff Stelling watching the other scores come in.

He said: “I don’t watch TV anyway, so I try to do what I can’t usually do because of games.

“Every Saturday, I will go out and discover a new town or city. See something different.

“Everybody’s different. It’s good to think about something else, keep in shape but allow the mind to relax a bit and take a break from competition.”

A home win could certainly be filed as something different.

Just six victories in 17 attempts, compared with nine defeats, has left City among the most generous hosts in League One. Only Fleetwood fare worse on their own patch.

Grayson’s belated Valley Parade debut nine days ago ended with stoppage-time heartache against Wigan.

Tomorrow will pit two sides with contrasting confidence levels as Gillingham continue their surge up the table under Steve Lovell.

Vincelot said: “The season is a marathon and it’s like that has finished and we struggled a bit towards the line. Now we have this ‘mini-cup’ for these remaining games.

“It’s mentally different from the whole season and we have to clear our minds for this.”