STEPHEN Darby reckons City have drawn up their blueprint for the nine “cup finals” to come despite leaving Wigan empty-handed.

The Bantams were beaten by a late Haris Vuckic goal at the DW Stadium, which allowed Barnsley to overtake them for the bottom play-off spot.

But Darby was encouraged by his side’s display against the second-placed Latics – and demanded that must set the bar for the rest of the campaign.

“It was a great team performance and it’s important that we show that same spirit and desire in every game from now to the end,” said the City skipper.

“If we do that, I don’t think we’ll go far wrong.

“We’re in and amongst it now so I don’t see why we can’t keep it going.

“The way we performed shows we more than deserve to be up there. We ran ourselves into the ground from first minute to last and caused them some real problems.

“It’s now up to us to keep producing that quality to get to where we want to be.

“It’s the business end of the season now and every game’s a cup final. The lads have got to give it everything.”

Phil Parkinson will try to add another player to his squad before Thursday’s emergency loan deadline in time for next weekend’s double header with fifth-placed Millwall and Crewe.

City will go into them without international trio Josh Cullen, Lee Evans and Reece Burke but Darby anticipates no hang-over from only their second loss in eight games.

He added: “There’s so much still to play for and it’s important we realise that. We can’t let the defeat damage us in any way.

“Losing is going to hurt but we’ve got to take it on the chin. We have to pick ourselves up now for a busy period coming over Easter.

“The table is so tight and I’m sure there will be plenty more twists and turns, especially with playing two games over three days. Your position can change quite quickly.”

Wigan continued their three-month unbeaten run but City ran them close and had the chances to inflict a first loss in 16 games. Billy Clarke missed the best one at the start of the second half.

Parkinson admitted: “We couldn’t find that real moment of quality. We got into some fantastic positions but that just eluded us.

“I expected us to go there and look decent. We’ve just beaten Burton, a very good team, so I thought we’d be right in the game and we certainly were.

“It always hurts when you get beaten. But it hurts a little bit less when you’ve played well.

“We’ll be a bit low when we walk back in to training but we’ve got to make sure that we’re ready to reproduce again. It’s a huge weekend for us now and we must be ready for action.

“There’s a real intensity about us and the lads look fit and strong. That’s great to see from the touchline.

“At this stage of the season, you sometimes see a few tired legs but that’s not the case. That’s great for the run-in.”