RORY McArdle is happy to put talk of his own future on hold to focus on City’s promotion push.

The long-serving centre half is currently enjoying his best run of the campaign in the side.

McArdle has started the last 11 games having previously found it difficult to shift the partnership of Romain Vincelot and Nathaniel Knight-Percival.

He is one of six senior players whose current contracts are due to expire in the summer. James Meredith, Stephen Darby, Mark Marshall, Tony McMahon and Matt Kilgallon are all in the same position.

McArdle admits he is still no nearer to finding out if his five-year stay at Valley Parade will be extended with the offer of a new deal.

But he can understand why City may choose to delay any contract decisions until the end of the season.

And he insists there will be no distraction from the pivotal final ten games as Stuart McCall’s side look to cement their position within the top six.

McArdle said: “If boys are going to start worrying about things like that, there’s the risk it will start having an effect on your performance.

“The only way you are going to get any recognition is by doing well.

“We need to start winning games as we have done, keep performance levels as high as possible and ultimately that’s going to give everyone as good a chance as any to get a new deal.

“It’s in everyone’s interests to keep the standards up.”

McArdle, who turns 30 next month, believes it is becoming more common in the lower divisions for clubs to hang on before opening contract negotiations.

He added: “I’ve not heard anything and I’m sure I’m not the only one.

“At the minute if you look across the board at the whole of the football league, there are probably 90 per cent of the clubs doing the same thing.

“It’s not something out of the blue.

“With how we are doing and where we are in the league, people may want to see what will happen at the end of the season.

“The focus right now for everyone is the immediate future. We don’t want to look too far ahead.”

McArdle is braced for a tense run-in in City’s bid to return to the play-offs at the very least.

Two of the sides above them, Fleetwood and Bolton, meet on Saturday and the Bantams still face trips to Sheffield United and Scunthorpe.

McArdle added: “We know it’s going to be close. Games are running out and there are a lot of potential six-pointers against teams in and around where you can quickly build up gaps.”