Lee Bullock has promised that City will not crack under the strain in the scramble for League Two safety.

The Bantams face big-spending Crawley at Valley Parade tonight for their game in hand on the bottom four clubs.

A win would stretch the gap from the drop zone to seven points with only seven matches then left to play.

City hit back from two down to grab a crucial point against Gillingham on Saturday. And midfielder Bullock believes the spirit on display in that second half shows they have the stomach for a battle.

Bullock said: “This team doesn’t feel sorry for itself, whereas maybe before we would have done.

“At 2-0 down it was time to stand up and be counted. It would have been easy to fold.

“In previous years we might have lost by three or four. I can remember playing in those home games against Rochdale and Accrington when we got well beaten and the atmosphere turned terrible.

“We’re in a bad position in the league and it’s very easy to hide and just do enough. But nobody did that on Saturday, everybody kept driving each other on and it was just unfortunate we couldn’t get the winner.”

City rescued their four-month unbeaten home run to head into the rearranged clash with promotion-hunting Crawley in confident mood.

Bullock acknowledged the huge part the fans played at the weekend and he reckons they can see that the players will keep scrapping for the points needed to guarantee survival.

He added: “The fans know that we won’t give in and stick with us. You saw that when they got behind us on Saturday.

“We’d had a bad end to the first half but we got clapped off the pitch. Then they cheered us on again after Rammers (Simon Ramsden) had scored the own goal.

“I’ve been here a long time and there have been times in the past when we’d have lost by more. But the crowd stayed with us, we kept our heads up and had the desire to come back.

“We’re just a bit gutted that Fages (Craig Fagan) wasn’t given that goal at the end. If the ref hadn’t given our equaliser, I guarantee they would have awarded that one.

“But after the controversy of our second goal, it was an easy decision not to give it.

“I’ve said for a while now that we’ve had no luck but it has definitely geed us up in the dressing room and we can’t wait for Crawley.

“We haven’t lost for 11 games at Valley Parade and we want to keep that run going tonight.”

Pre-season promotion favourites Crawley have bounced back from a mini-wobble to win three on the bounce to go fourth.

Bullock sees it as a game to relish as City look to put valuable daylight between themselves and the teams stuck at the foot of the table.

“There is pressure on us but that’s something you’ve got to be able to handle. It makes no difference whether you are 18 or 31 like me.

“It does become hard at times but we know we’ve got that ability in us.

“We’ve had a good comeback and played very well in the second half. We know we’re as good as any team in this division when we can play like that.

“But we just have to prove it constantly for long periods of games.

“When we drop our standards, we inevitably concede a goal and we’re left chasing the result again.”