GRAHAM Alexander can sense a mental fortitude developing in City again.

His side have hit back from falling behind in each of their last two away games.

They recovered a late point at Grimsby on Good Friday through Richie Smallwood’s penalty in stoppage time.

And on Saturday, the Bantams came from a goal down to beat Salford thanks to Brad Halliday’s second winning goal in successive games.

It is a welcome reaction for the City boss after the four-game slump last month that has cut them adrift in the late chase for the play-offs.

That woeful wobble saw them concede 13 times and scoring only once as heads dropped the moment they fell behind.

Showing a proper response to “being punched on the nose” has pleased Alexander the most in their current recovery.

“Looking back over the patterns of the games, I think (dealing with) the adversity is the challenging one for us,” he said.

“I spoke a few months ago about the importance of the first goal and how it seemed to influence how the game went.

“That’s certainly what hit us hard in those four games.

“And when we conceded, we’ve had a great chance to equalise soon after and not taken it. That all compounds the bad feeling.

“We have to overcome that. We have to be a team that goes, ‘right, if this happens, we still crack on’.”

City’s weekend win against struggling Salford was their third come-from-behind victory of the season – and first since Doncaster away before Christmas.

Alexander hopes to build on that rediscovered resilience can continue into the final three games, the next two of which are both on the road.

He added: “We can’t just be hoping that everything goes great. Let’s be honest, you don’t have games of football like that.

“Someone’s going to make a mistake, something is going to go against you. You have to be good enough to overcome all those things that can happen.

“But it takes time to create that belief and mentality. We’re working hard with some really good characters to try and make that happen.

“I don’t think it’s restricted to football. But the more resilient you are as a human certainly makes you a better footballer.

“Then if you’re a more resilient footballer, you’re a better team.”