SHAY McCartan hopes he is saving his first set-piece special for when it matters – just like he did last season.

The City new boy became renowned for scoring free-kicks while at former club Accrington, though has yet to show that prowess with the Bantams.

But McCartan has a habit of doing it at the right time as his experience proved when Sky Sports did a feature on him.

He said: “I had to do a piece for Sky last year on a Friday for hitting free-kicks.

“They got really annoyed because I kept hitting them over the bar but come the next day when we had a match I had one from about 20 yards and put it in the top corner.

“The gaffer (John Coleman) was laughing saying I’d skied them all for Sky and then saved it for when it mattered.”

If selected, the 23-year-old is ready to step up tomorrow when the first free-kick opportunity materialises against Blackpool.

He said: “That’s the plan. In pre-season I’ve hit them over the bar but that doesn’t mean anything. Hopefully I’ve saved it for the occasion.

“You could score ten goals in pre-season and it means nothing if you don’t score in the league season.

“It gets your confidence up but at the end of the day it’s doing it when it counts.”

McCartan can’t wait for the season to start and sample the Valley Parade atmosphere tomorrow, which he admits will be a far cry from playing at Accrington.

He said: “I’ve played in front of a big home crowd when I came on for about ten minutes for Northern Ireland (against New Zealand on his debut earlier this summer) .

“There was about 16,000 there but that’s the only time for a home game.

“Obviously at Accrington you don’t get that – the highest was about 5,000 – but I’m looking forward to it.

“It will be different but that’s what you live for, playing football in front of big crowds.

“I’ve always wanted to play for a big club and thankfully I have the opportunity to do it.”

McCartan believes City’s pre-season form has been mixed but he doesn’t pay much attention to those results, whether good or bad.

“We’ve not always been at our best but it happens in pre-season. It doesn’t really mean much,” said the forward.

“I lost every game in pre-season last year and then the first game of the season we beat Doncaster 3-2 and played brilliantly.

“You can take what you want from it but personally for me it’s about keeping fit.”

Boss Stuart McCall rated City’s last friendly outing at Halifax as ‘bang average” but has since admitted that judgement may have been harsh.

He said: “In fairness when I look back at the game, I was probably over-critical.

“When reviewing it again it wasn’t as disappointing as I first thought.

“There were a lot of good things to take out of the second half – but we’ve got to set our standards, be it in training or be it in games and I just felt the standard wasn’t what it could have been.

“In hindsight we did fine. We’ve discussed a few things which we will look to improve on.

“It’s been a good week, we’ve got through a lot of training and tomorrow can’t come quick enough.”