CITY have no fear about playing at Valley Parade as they look for an FA Cup boost to the creaking home form.

The Bantams go into the second-round clash with Plymouth on the back of an impressive win at promotion rivals Shrewsbury.

But while they boast the most away points in the country, Stuart McCall’s men have lost three league games on the bounce on their own soil – the latest to Scunthorpe ten days ago.

The City boss, though, insists there are no gremlins creeping in ahead of the next appearance at their previously impregnable base.

McCall is convinced current performance levels will inevitably sway home results back in their favour.

He said: “There’s no fear factor here. The lads are looking forward to it.

“We know the home results have not been good, not just compared to last year but in general. But the performances have been decent.

“I’m not normally a big stats man. You can have all the possession in the game but the only statistic that matters is who scores more goals.

“But in the three away games we won at Northampton, Portsmouth and Shrewsbury, we had less shots on target than we did against Scunthorpe – nine compared with eight.

“We had one more corner against Scunthorpe than we did in those three put together. Yet we came away from them with nine points.

“We weren’t unlucky against Scunthorpe. We gave away two silly free-kicks and then defended them poorly.

“But the previous two teams to win here went away with their goalkeepers as the man of the match.

“The bottom line is we must improve our home results. But there is no anxiety or a complex about playing at Valley Parade – the lads love playing there.”

Plymouth, currently bottom of League One, won 1-0 at City three weeks ago after withstanding heavy pressure. Keeper Remi Matthews was star of the show but is out injured, so Argyle will field on-loan Hull teenager Will Mannion.

McCall added: “You try to put pressure on every opposing keeper. He is a younger one but has played in the League Cup for Hull so he’s had that experience.

“We’re just hopeful he’s not as inspired as the recent goalkeepers have been.

“Plymouth will be buoyed by the fact they won up here last time. But that will have no bearing on how we go about it.

“As long as we’re creating opportunities, it’s up to us to be clinical.

“We want to go as far as we can in the cup. It’s something that would be exciting for everyone.

“I actually got a buzz listening to the second-round draw because it’s nice to be involved. Last year I didn’t even know the draw was on.”