GARY Bowyer reckons Cambridge were not given enough respect before City’s first-day stalemate.

The Bantams failed to score despite having 22 shots at Valley Parade – which he put down to excitement for the occasion.

But Bowyer also felt the opposition had been too easily written off by some because they had finished fourth from bottom of League Two last season.

He said: “There are times when people are too quick to be disrespectful and don’t take everything into account.

“You only have to look at the manager’s experience and I think they’ll be a useful outfit. In the build-up to the game, I heard Colin Calderwood talking about aiming for the play-offs.

“You get people making assumptions based on the previous season and you can’t do it like that. The only guarantee in football is there are no guarantees.

“There are far more too many people who are always walking round with a glass half-empty. I’ve never been one of those.

“I’m very positive with what I saw. That first game is out the way and we’ll be far better for the experience.”

City managed just three efforts on target and could not take advantage when Cambridge went down to 10 men for the last half hour.

Bowyer added: “Players were eager to do well and desperate to score the winner themselves instead of possibly picking that final pass or taking another touch.

“The way we went about it and controlled possession, even up to the sending off, was very pleasing.

“The sending off probably aided Cambridge in that it made their decision far easier to sit in there and try to catch us on the break.

“You get home on Saturday night and go through everything. Sheffield Wednesday had a man sent off and they won the game at Reading.

“The same expectancy would have probably rung round there when they were down to 10 men.

“I was pleased with the amount of effort that the players put in wanting to score that winner and that we didn’t lose concentration at the other end.

“Throughout the course of the season there will be games when unfortunately you can’t find that little bit of magic. But for sure, we’ll play worse than we did on Saturday and win games.”

Centre half Paudie O’Connor is back in full training and is hoping to come into contention for the trip to Grimsby.