SATURDAY came as a bit of a shock to the system but City should not dwell on the disappointment.

Despite the Plymouth defeat, they are still in a favourable position in the league.

Let’s be fair, if someone had offered a place in the top six at this time of the year before a ball had been kicked, I’d have snapped their hand off.

Yes, there are things that I’m sure Stuart will feel they can do better but on the whole City must be pleased with how things have gone.

The easiest thing in the world to do is criticise. People say we’re not doing this or that – but it’s the same at every club.

I see a lot of football, not just necessarily at Bradford.

I watch a lot of games in the Championship and you could say, with the exception of probably Wolves, Sheffield United, Cardiff and Bristol City, every other club in that division are not happy with their progress.

The supporters will be critical – Boro fans, for example, because they’ve spent 40-odd million, or Norwich, Aston Villa, Derby and Leeds United.

All of them will feel they have something to grumble about because they are not right up there at the top.

Throughout my career, regardless of results, I have always tried to put a positive spin on things.

What’s gone is gone and things that have happened cannot be changed now. There’s no point thinking about ‘what if’.

Move on and go into the next game with a positive mentality. Have that ‘bring it on’ mindset.

Yes, City will be frustrated not to have got something against Plymouth after dominating. It’s hard to take.

But look back a couple of weeks to when they went down to Pompey. They were poor, by all accounts, but showed a bit of spirit and still managed to get the result.

Then think back to the games prior to that against Oldham, Charlton and Bury, when they didn’t play particularly badly but got little to show for it.

You don’t always get what you deserve. That’s why you don’t dwell on things.

There is a big run of matches coming up now – Wigan on Saturday, Scunthorpe and Shrewsbury. City are playing three of the teams around them and it will be a real test.

But they should take confidence from their own position. They are right up there on merit.

Who would have said that Shrewsbury would be top in the middle of November? They’ve been the shock team up to now.

But there are bigger clubs out there than Bradford in terms of budget. You talk about Wigan and the likes of Blackburn, who have got more money to spend.

Scunny are another and one that I would definitely have tipped to do well at the start of the season.

They were on a roll last year, just missing out in the play-offs, so you’d have them down as a team to watch.

If someone had asked me then, I’d have put down Scunthorpe and Wigan as two of the serious challengers.

It doesn’t surprise anyone that Wigan are up there, having come down from the Championship. They will still have the extra resources.

Those type of teams you always felt would be in the mix. With City, and the experienced personnel they lost in the summer, you wouldn’t have been so sure.

Stuart had seen the crux of the team that took them to Wembley in play-offs move on, so they were a bit of an unknown quantity.

Fans should be happy with where they are now.

You don’t always play well but that’s football for you. I think City are looking okay so far.

If luck’s on your side you’ll get a result, as they did at Pompey last month, but there will be occasions when you go away scratching your head that you’ve not got anything.

Plymouth, as Stuart said afterwards, was just one of those days.

It’s important that you don’t let those type of results bring you down, especially with these next fixtures. It’s time to back the faith in your ability.

Keep that positive mindset and make sure you head to Wigan on Saturday on the front foot. I’m sure Stuart will have the players firing on all cylinders for that one.

With the transfer window scenario now, you’ve got to work with what you’ve got until January. City have just got to keep going along as they have been.

As I’ve said, there are only a few teams in the league that will be happy with their position. City are definitely one.

There are bigger teams around, in terms of their wage budget, who would love to swap places.

l John Hendrie was talking to Simon Parker