PHIL Parkinson has praised City's staying power and insists morale has not been dented by letting slip a two-goal lead at the weekend.

The Bantams could still have snatched victory against Sheffield United in stoppage time when James Hanson's close-range header was cleared over the bar by Jose Baxter.

Their late rally after being pegged back to 2-2 was further proof for Parkinson that City are growing stronger late in games.

Parkinson has talked about City "sustaining" a performance and he believes that is evident with the way they have finished recent matches.

He said: "I was pleased with our reaction and the way we came again at the end of the game. That is something we are doing on a regular basis.

"You can go back to the Barnsley game when we had chances to win it late on. We had the last-minute winner against Port Vale, the goal disallowed at the end at Fleetwood and it was the same again on Sunday with someone clearing off the line."

Parkinson believes there is plenty to be positive about as City head into another home clash on Saturday against Peterborough and their new boss Graham Westley.

The mood had been further lifted with the news that Billy Clarke is on course to return to full training by the end of next month.

The striker has had his knee brace removed and specialist Steve Bollen confirmed his five-week check has gone to plan.

Parkinson also feels the newer members in his squad will have benefited from appearing in front of Valley Parade's largest league crowd since May 2003.

He said: "The players are growing into it for us and it was good for some of those lads to sample that atmosphere of a Yorkshire derby live on TV. It's one of those big occasions you have to deal with and I was generally very pleased.

"It was exactly the game we predicted it would be, with both teams playing open formations. We always knew with Sheffield United that they will create and concede chances.

"They've got a million pound striker at the top of the pitch and another half a million one on the bench, so we knew that threat was there.

"At 2-0 up, you always want to go on and win the game – but they had a good five minutes and we had a bad one.

"But their second came from a top-class pass from Baxter to land it on a sixpence in the only area between the defender and goalkeeper.

"You always wonder if you could have done better to prevent a goal but sometimes quality does you. Yet it was encouraging to see us come again and nearly win it."