MARK Bower has been watching video footage of Bradford Park Avenue's recent games and he feels that has been a crucial factor in the upsurge in form of his team.

The former Bantams skipper is still fine tuning his squad after 13 games in charge of the city’s other club.

There have been ins and outs player-wise since he began with a defeat at one of his other former clubs – FC Halifax Town – in late September.

Bower said: “We were caught cold by Kidderminster and they got a very early goal, and when the second one went in it was always going to be an impossible task.

“We didn’t defend well when they scored their goals but we’ve watched it back since and there were certainly some positives to take from the game – certainly a lot more than I thought immediately after the game.

“That feeling of disappointment when you’ve just lost a game outweighs everything else, so you just feel dejected, but I think it does you good looking at a re-run because you can see where things went wrong and you can work on them in training.”

The 3-1 reverse at Horsfall Stadium to promotion-chasing Kidderminster Harriers three Saturdays ago ended a three-match winning run for Avenue in Vanarama National League North.

Bower’s men were soon back on the winning trail, however, as they edged past local rivals Thackley in the West Riding County Cup with a nervy 1-0 victory at Dennyfield just three days later.

They followed that up with a 2-1 home win over Brackley Town – another club pushing for promotion in their division.

Avenue have won six of their last nine games in all competitions and lost just two league games – a stark contrast to Bower’s first four games in charge that brought just one point.

The manager added: “When you watch a game back, it doesn’t just show you where it went wrong – it also shows what went right.

“That’s a real positive for us as coaches, and for the players as well.

"The bad bits you can work on but highlighting the good bits is important because good habits bring consistency to your game.

“I think it’s good to watch it back outside of that heat of the moment.

"When the adrenaline is flowing it’s sometimes difficult to analyse but in the cold light of day you see it differently.”