NEWLY-capped international James Meredith insists he will not be distracted by speculation linking him with a possible move to the Championship.

Meredith, who returned to City's side in the weekend defeat at Walsall, is still on cloud nine following his double appearance for Australia in their most recent World Cup qualifiers.

The left back made his debut on home soil and helped the Socceroos to a 3-0 win over Kyrgyzstan. He also played an hour in their 4-0 victory in Bangladesh before going off with a foot injury.

His promotion to the Aussie ranks, after years of trying, has attracted the inevitable talk of interest from other clubs.

The Down Under media have linked him with Championship high-flyers Brighton, as well as Reading and Wolves, and suggested they could exercise a buy-out clause in his contract in next month's transfer window.

But Meredith, who only signed the deal at the end of last season tying him to Valley Parade until the summer of 2017, has played down the rumours and stresses his only focus is on getting the Bantams promoted.

He said: "There is a clause in my contract but I don't think about stuff like that. I just get my head down and work as hard as I can for the team. That's how I've always been.

"Getting picked for Australia, I guess inevitably (the speculation) is going to happen when you put yourself in those sort of positions.

"You can be the exact same player with the exact same qualities but once you become an international, you might get looked at a bit differently.

"But I'm only concentrating on working hard to put in as many good performances for Bradford as I can. I want to do the best I can to help us get promoted and then see where we're at.

"I'll never take my foot off the gas. I've been down the bottom playing Conference North, so I won't ease up until I'm right up the top. If you ease up, you'll just get replaced."

It has been a long-running campaign for Meredith to earn recognition from the Australian selectors. Despite City's two high-profile cup runs, the defender has been consistently overlooked by the national team.

So when the call came from Socceroos boss Ange Postecoglou this season, it was regarded as long overdue.

Meredith was on the bench in October for the 2-0 defeat in Jordan but a knock in training for Jason Davidson of Huddersfield saw him suddenly summoned to the starting line-up for last month's double header.

The Bantams defender said: "I'm surprised at how quickly it's come from getting from my foot in the door. I really thought I'd have to fight my way in – I didn't think it would happen so soon.

"But I've worked hard throughout the years and paid my dues. I've been noticed and then I've done well in the camp to impress the manager enough for him to have confidence in playing me.

"It's nice to be a part of it and actually going out there and playing for Australia was like a dream come true. I think I played well and now my aim is to play well at Bradford and get back in the national squad again.

"Jason's a good player and he's been Australia's number one left back for a while now. The competition is good and it pushes both of us to get better. In the long term, that means a better result for the team."

Australia, who currently lead their Asian qualifying group, were hot favourites to win both games despite the Jordan setback. But even against lesser opposition, Meredith was determined to make a good impression.

He admitted: "I was nervous when I first found out I was playing. I didn't expect it, so it was a surprise – but a very nice surprise.

"Then I got my head round playing as well as I could. I tried my best and was fairly happy with the (Kyrgyzstan) result.

"I just thought that I had to rise to the occasion. It certainly helped being around such great players; so good at passing and moving.

"They are so intelligent in their play and you can see why they've performed at the levels they have. People like Tim Cahill and Mile Jedinak are fantastic players and I'm so happy to be a part of it."

Making his Socceroos debut on Australian soil was the cherry on the cake and ensured Meredith had plenty of support making the trip to the capital from the family base in Melbourne.

"I must have had 12 people there, which was really good because I hadn't seen them in about 18 months," he said.

"My whole family came up and when my friends found out I was playing, they flew up as well. I got a lot of good feedback and it was just fantastic to be able to share the special moment with them."

His foot injury now cleared, Meredith admits there is no chance of resting on his laurels with his club. Greg Leigh's form as a more-than-capable deputy has made sure of that.

Leigh was involved in four City clean sheets during Meredith's absence, as well as scoring two stunning goals against Aldershot and Scunthorpe.

Meredith believes the battle for the left-back slot is replicated throughout the side and said: "We've got that competition all over the pitch. That's why we have got a good team.

"We just need to keep our form going and hopefully we'll put ourselves in a good play-off position. Who knows, maybe we could even be looking at the automatic places."