DAVID Hopkin insists City must not get hung up on what their relegation rivals are doing.

Midweek results generally fell for the Bantams with only one winner among the five teams in the bottom eight in action.

Wimbledon made it back-to-back victories to cut the gap behind Hopkin’s men to four points at the foot of League One.

But that win kept Rochdale firmly in the mix – and they are now the side currently occupying the last safety spot on a point more but with an inferior goal difference.

The picture remains as congested as ever ahead of City’s crucial clash with Walsall this weekend.

READ MORE: Check out how City's rivals got on this week

But Hopkin has stressed that it is the only focus, not what’s going on elsewhere.

He said: “I keep repeating myself but there are going to be lots of twists and turns before the end of the season.

“Teams might have games in hand but they have to win them. There’s a lot of pressure saying you’ve got a game in hand or two – it’s difficult when you’re playing Tuesday and Saturday.

“It makes things more interesting but we just need to concentrate on ourselves.

“I’ve always been the same and tell the players to focus on what we can affect.

“It’s about what we can do. Everything else will take care of itself.

“We can’t do anything about what is happening with these other games.”

Walsall have lost five on the bounce and, like City, are without a goal from their last three games.

With two points separating the sides, the stakes could not be higher at the Banks’s Stadium.

Hopkin added: “Walsall are at home so there will be a lot more expectation on them.

“But it’s probably the first time we’ve gone away from Valley Parade looking at a game where if we beat a team in front of us we can potentially get out the bottom four.

“That’s a huge incentive for everyone.”

City missed the chance to escape the drop zone when they were held to a goalless draw by Plymouth. But Hopkin praised the response after the Fleetwood loss and reckons his team are not playing like one in trouble.

“A lot of people have talked about the Fleetwood game but we’re on a fantastic run,” he said.

“We’ve only lost three games since the start of January and I don’t think we’re playing like a team second bottom in the league.

“Every team that comes up against now is having to work that bit harder to get anything from games.

“Most who have played us have either lost or drawn a game the following week because they’ve had to put that much effort into matching us. Then they suffer next game.

“We probably should have picked up another four or five points over the last few weeks. But we feel we’ve got the momentum and the players are working so hard.”

Sean Scannell continues to step up his recovery after nearly five months out with a fractured back. The Bantams boss hopes to be able to factor the winger back into his plans in the next month.

He added: “Sean has been running now for three weeks so hopefully it won’t be long before he joins in with us again.

“We’re coming into March, which will be a massive month for us with the number of games. We need to make sure everyone stays mentally and physically strong for the final 10 weeks we have of the season.

“There’s a spring in the step that we can go on another run shortly and start turning these draws into victories.”