PHIL Parkinson admits City are “one and a half” players down at the back without Andrew Davies.

The Bantams committed set-piece suicide again on Saturday as Swindon extended their Valley Parade strife by inflicting a third home league defeat on the bounce.

Both Jonathan Obika goals in their 2-1 come-from-behind win came from corners and City have now let in four from dead-ball situations in the last two games.

Parkinson conceded that the absence of defensive powerhouse Davies, who he called the best defender in his own penalty area in the division, is now having an impact.

He said: “When Andrew first came out of the team, we defended really well.

“But he does a job and a half in the box. It’s like having one and a half players.

“When you’ve got probably the best player in the division in his own penalty box out the team, then you’re going to miss him. He’s outstanding.

“But we’ve got enough players out there who are big, strong and conscientious enough to do better.

“Half of me feels for the lads because they are distraught but equally to win games we’ve got to defend those situations a lot better.

“We spend a lot of time working on it in training and going through the opposition’s strengths. But it’s up to individuals to do the job.”

Parkinson cleared goalkeeper Jordan Pickford of any blame for either goal – and praised the youngster for his outstanding save from Yaser Kasim.

“It’s very tough to mention Jordan,” he added. “I thought he was faultless.

“I don’t know what he could have done (with either goal). The one save he made from the free-kick was as good as you are likely to see.

“It’s too easy to say we’ve got a young keeper. I think Jordan has been excellent.”

City scored first through a Louis Thompson own goal but have now lost three in a row at home in the league.

Davies, who broke his arm in the first of those against Peterborough, is not due back for another two to three weeks.

And they head into a triple-header on the road without Alan Sheehan, who was sent off for punching Swindon defender Raphael Branco in added time.

Sheehan, who also missed a third-minute penalty, is set to face a maximum fine of two weeks’ wages from the club. Parkinson described his actions as “unacceptable”.

“I’m so annoyed because so much effort went into the game and the week leading up to it in getting the mentality right.

“We wanted to keep confidence levels high. You need to do that to turn this little run around.

“The way we played overall was a long way ahead of last week against Yeovil.

“But everything goes out the window with the way we’ve defended those two set-pieces. We’re not helping ourselves at all.”