TWO games in, three if you count the Carabao Cup, and City are still chasing their first win of the season.

Hardly the cause for great alarm after a couple of draws to kick off League Two. But there is a growing feeling that they must get off the mark against Oldham to calm a few jitters among the Valley Parade fanbase.

That is the weight of expectation that the Bantams are shouldering as one of the big boys of the division.

The bookies stoked up the pressure by naming them promotion favourites before a ball was kicked – familiar territory for the club at this level.

And supporters are hoping to put the misery of the last season or so behind them with a push to bounce straight back up, as Gary Bowyer managed when he took charge at Blackpool.

Richard O’Donnell insists the players must embrace that pressure and the high demands of playing in front of League Two’s largest audiences.

“People see us a scalp,” he said. “We’re the favourites with the bookies and that’s something we’ve got to cope with.

“We’ve got to see it as a positive challenge. It shows a degree of respect towards us and what we are capable of.

“That’s not just us as a team, but how big the club is generally. People look forward to playing us, whether it’s coming to Valley Parade or at home where our away fans will always travel in great numbers.

“We’ve got to face that pressure every week. It’s a different challenge for us this season.”

That respect for the Bantams usually means away teams piling men behind the ball – as City found out on opening day in a frustrating goalless draw against a Cambridge side who spent the last half hour a man short.

The City keeper added: “Valley Parade is undoubtedly the best ground in the league, so people are going to look forward to coming here.

“Even before Cambridge went down to 10 men, they sat back quite a bit and were happy going away with a point.

“Having to break down teams is something we’ve got to get used to. Opponents will sit behind the ball and we’ve got to find ways to get round that, whether it’s going a bit more direct at times or mix up what we do.”

O’Donnell compares the situation with Sunderland last year in their first season down in League One. Expected to romp to promotion, the Black Cats were held to 10 draws at the Stadium of Light – and began the new campaign with another.

He said: “You can use Sunderland as a bit of an example last year. Their home form probably wasn’t as good as people thought it should be.

“Teams would go up there and think, ‘wow’, and it would up their game.

“It can go either way – some could crumble under it while others can thrive.

“Credit to Cambridge, they came here and made it really difficult for us.

“But it’s something we’ve got to deal with and a challenge that I’m looking forward to over the season.”

O’Donnell drew a line under last term the first day the squad met up for pre-season. He believes the build-up programme that Bowyer organised helped clear the air from the previous doom and gloom.

“Pre-season was really tough even though we haven’t been away. We did different team-building things, like wrestling, and I think that was really good.

“Personally, I’m not a fan of going away pre-season because it forces the issue with the lads being together.

“Whereas this year felt really natural and everyone wanted to be around each other.

“Nobody was more disappointed than me with what happened last season. But since walking back in day one, I’ve not thought about it since.

“That shows what a good job the gaffer has done in terms of changing the environment."