PHIL Parkinson was relieved to see City avoid the FA Cup roll-call of shame.

The Bantams are in the hat for tonight’s second-round draw but still have to negotiate a Valley Parade replay with Aldershot next week.

They had the better of yesterday’s scrappy goalless draw in Hampshire but could not find the quality to grab a winner.

But Parkinson was happy that City did not go the same way as League One rivals Barnsley and Crewe, who both crashed out to non-league opponents.

The Bantams chief said: “The structure of English football all the way down is so strong.

“Aldershot are a full-time team and were in the league not so long ago.

“I watched them and knew they were a young, athletic team and the gap isn’t as big as people think, as has been proved over the weekend. You’ve got to be at your best to get through.

“We’ve still got a big job to do. We’ve got to look at ourselves in our preparation for the game and make sure we are ready.

“We were probably 75 per cent in the first half and could have been punished. Ben (Williams) has had to pull off a fantastic save.

“But when you come to a place like this, the keeper’s going to have to have something to do over the 90 minutes.

“We came up against a team who have conceded very few goals over recent weeks. I know their two centre halves are highly rated and a lot of clubs are watching them both.”

City were out-of-sorts in the first half playing up the slope at the EBB Stadium and Williams kept them in the game by denying Jim Stevenson.

They improved after the break and Billy Clarke, making the first start of his comeback, forced a good save from home keeper Phil Smith.

Parkinson added: “We started slow like the Halifax game. We gave the lads all the warnings about last year but there were a few players who did start poorly.

“But they did pick it up second half and were very good in difficult conditions.

“These games are tough. I went to Crewe against Eastleigh and watched the (Salford) game on Friday on the telly and we had to have a determination about us not to add to that list of cup exits to non-league teams.

“Everybody knew the TV cameras were here because it was set up for Aldershot to get a cup shock. Fortunately for us they weren’t able to do it.”

City have now not scored a goal in open play since Devante Cole at Doncaster but Parkinson said: “We’re six games unbeaten.

“When you’re on a good run people maybe start looking for other things.

“All right, we’ve had a lot of chances in open play and haven’t converted them but we’re on a terrific run and the lads are showing an excellent mentality.”

The teams are set to meet again next Tuesday, although that date has to be confirmed after TV have decided on their live coverage of the replays.

“We’ve got to play as well as we having been doing at home,” warned Parkinson.

“If you look at the last few home performances they’ve been really good and we’ll have to get up to those levels to win.

“It will be a big day out for the Aldershot players. Their lads want to be league players and they’ll have a determination to do well there.”