Angry Stuart McCall accused City of “not wanting it enough” after losing promotion ground at Bury last night.
The Bantams were sunk by Andy Morrell’s second-half goal to drop out of the League Two play-off zone.
And McCall rounded on his players for lacking the appetite for battle against a rival who are now four points above them.
He blasted: “It was unacceptable. Bury were hungrier, wanted it more and were first to the ball all over the park.
“It just wasn’t good enough full stop. We came up against a team who had more desire and I hope I don’t have to say that again this season.
“You can play poorly, make wrong decisions and miss chances but I’m not accepting being second best and that’s what we were.”
City were backed by more than 1,800 away fans who watched a performance short of ideas and inspiration. The defeat leaves McCall’s men with only one win from their last ten games.
He added: “We’ve let a lot of people down and I hate doing that. We’ve got to be better – and we will be better.
“We’ve got good players in the team but when you come up against strength and desire, you need that little bit more. I picked a strong, physical team because I knew what to expect from Bury.
“But in the first half a lot of our players didn’t show the desire needed. It was a bit more even in the second half but there are no excuses. After the comeback on Saturday, we could only bring confidence into the game. But we got what we deserved – nothing.”
On-loan QPR defender Zesh Rehman made his debut at left back for virus victim Luke O’Brien and was spared his manager’s criticism.
McCall said: “That was not his natural position but I thought Zesh was one of the better players for us.
“But there were too many who didn’t turn up. Going forward we weren’t good enough and lost too many battles.
“I’m hurt by it and we’ve got two home games coming up now to put it right. The team that go out against Grimsby on Saturday will be left in no doubt what is required.
“We have to show character now to make amends. The team will know exactly what’s expected of them.”
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