Phil Parkinson reckons the “penny has finally dropped” over what it takes to get City going again.

Parkinson was delighted by the effort shown in last week’s ten-man draw at Swindon.

He wants to see that as the norm as City look to make it three straight home wins against fifth-placed Cheltenham tomorrow – and he hopes the message has sunk in.

Parkinson said: “We’ve got to back last week up. If we do, then that point does become a good one.

“Steve Parkin and I drove back from the reserves on Tuesday and we were saying that the penny’s really starting to drop with everybody at this club.

“The emphasis we’re putting on the players is that to wear a Bradford City shirt, you’ve got to roll your sleeves up and work hard.

“We’re seeing that in the first team, certainly saw that in the reserves, and that’s the minimum requirement. We need that ethos running through the club that work ethic is paramount.

“It’s a message we’re sending out all the time in training. If you want to be in the team and stay in the team, then you’ve got to put yourself on the line physically.”

Like Swindon, Cheltenham are in a play-off spot after winning five of their last six outings. They have also won the last three away at Bristol Rovers, Burton and Accrington.

But Parkinson is confident City will be up for the challenge and put more daylight between themselves and the bottom places.

He said: “Cheltenham are a good side and we’ll give them the respect they deserve. They’ve put in some good results.

“But equally we’ve concentrated in training on the things we feel we do well and where we can improve as a team.

“It’s important we focus on our strengths and get better. We need to be positive.

“We spoke before the Northampton game about delivering quality crosses into the box and we did that.

“Now we’ve got to work on movement in the box as well and make sure enough people have that desire to get in there. That’s what we’ve looked at in training.”