Phil Parkinson applauded City’s battling point at play-off rivals Preston and announced: That’s the real us.

Roared on by nearly 3,000 away fans, headers from James Hanson and Rory McArdle earned the Bantams a 2-2 draw in a Deepdale thriller.

It was a resounding response after losing the last two and Parkinson declared: “We always speak about putting in a performance and I’ve got to be immensely proud about what I saw.

“It was a great game of football; a performance which shows what we are all about. We were tight defensively, people did their job for the team and we played some great football.

“I said to the players before the game that we’ve lost a couple but we’ve come here to a great stadium in front of 3,000 away fans. We could have been turning out at Accrington Stanley.

“But this is what we’ve achieved so when that whistle blows, let’s show what we’re all about. I couldn’t have asked for more.”

Parkinson lavished special praise on winger Kyel Reid, who produced an outstanding display and hit a post.

“He was unplayable at times. If he’d scored a goal his performance would probably have been a ten out of ten.”

City had other chances to win it and Hanson had a late header from a Gary Jones free-kick chalked off for offside. Parkinson felt the assistant’s call was “marginal”.

He added: “I was very surprised when it wasn’t given but it was a great delivery from Gaz.

“The great thing was that we looked threatening from set-pieces again. We weren’t on Saturday (at Crawley) but we’ve got that consistency back.”

Parkinson had criticised his side for being too open in the Crawley defeat and was delighted to see the discipline back in their approach.

“Your attacking play stems from the defensive shape and discipline. At Crawley we were too loose but last night we were tight and compact, got the ball back and were able to do what we do best and that’s go forward and attack.”

Parkinson was not so happy with the two Preston goals from set-pieces, particularly the second when centre half Bailey Wright was left free at a corner after a marking mix-up. The City chief said: “We were a bit unlucky with their first because it hit Stephen Darby and went in.

“But the second was a breakdown in communication. It’s frustrating because a little detail has cost us.

“But we’ve got to be calm about it because we’ve defended well of late and did so in the game in general. We deserved to come back and the way Roz (McArdle) attacked the ball in the box was outstanding.

“He’s been with us 16 months now and when we talk about the characters in the team, he typifies that.”