SIMON Grayson reckons Plymouth have shown the blueprint for getting City's promotion campaign back on the rails.

Saturday's long haul to Home Park pairs two sides at opposite ends of the current League One form table.

Hosts Argyle have won five on the bounce but the Bantams are still looking for their first victory since New Year's Day.

It has been a remarkable turnaround for Derek Adams' men since they were beaten 3-1 at Valley Parade in the FA Cup in December – when they were bottom of the division.

The Pilgrims have lost just once in that time and picked up 33 points from a possible 42, gaining 17 points on City to overtake them in seventh spot on goal difference.

Yet Grayson sees their progress as a timely reminder of how quickly footballing fortunes can change and is backing his new team to follow suit.

He said: "Plymouth have had a fantastic run of results after starting the season quite poorly. But that shows what can happen in any division.

"You get momentum, you get confidence and you can get a lot of good results.

"It doesn't take much to turn things round. You start off with a few draws just to stop the rot and then take it on from there.

"We've been in a similar position recently but we've had those two draws and hopefully they can lead to wins.

"There have been good aspects in the games and it's just about putting it all together.

"We want the players to feel good in themselves. Confidence has edged away over the last few weeks but it can come back very quickly with results."

Grayson's priority is to stiffen up a defensive record that is currently the worst in the top ten. It is 16 games since City's last clean sheet at Shrewsbury.

He wants to make them tougher to beat – and Charlton boss Karl Robinson moaned about some of the physicality in last week's draw at the Valley.

Grayson said: "League One is very competitive anyway. If you don't stand up and be counted, teams can run over the top of you.

"We've got to make sure we are there to battle and compete with people. We want to close people down with a tempo, without endangering anybody but stopping the opposition from playing and making it easy.

"Karl was just a little bit disappointed to throw away the opportunity to win so late on. But he'll probably look back on his comments and think it wasn't too much of a physical game.

"I think it was quite balanced, we made a few tackles and their lads did as well. I wouldn't want anything less.

"You want to give yourself the best opportunity to win games and obviously keeping a clean sheet does that.

"It's not just down to the back five but the full line-up. Strikers have got to close down and the midfield have to work hard without the ball to get blocks in."