RICHARD O’Donnell won’t lose sight of the bigger picture as City lick their Plymouth wounds.

Saturday’s setback at Home Park made it three defeats on the bounce in all competitions.

It’s come as a slap in the face for the Bantams, who had powered into the month with four wins in five in the league.

But despite slipping to seventh in the congested leading pack, they have two games in hand to bridge the six-point gap to top guns Swindon – starting with this weekend’s trip to Macclesfield.

O’Donnell insists there is plenty to be upbeat about, particularly the return of the club’s casualties.

Matty Palmer and Shay McCartan are back in the mix after the much-heralded comeback of Jake Reeves.

O’Donnell said: “You only have to look at the positivity from having one player back who has missed two seasons through injury. It was incredible.

“It just shows the difference that bringing players back can bring to the team. It’s not just Reevesy but there’s Jordan Gibson coming back and a few others.

“Joe Riley is going well with his injury, Matty Palmer is getting closer again. So hopefully it won’t be too long before he’s playing.

“You look at those coming back and it reminds you that it’s a big squad for this league and a very good one.”

Midfielder Chris Taylor is another option after his protracted arrival and O’Donnell is delighted that a player who has been around the club on and off since July is officially part of the group at last.

“I’m really pleased because it was tough for him,” added the City stopper. “You could see how disappointed he was when it all fell through.

“He’s a good lad, good to have around the place. He was devastated when he found out he wasn’t going to be able to play for us.

“I’m glad people came to their senses and allowed it all to go through. Again, it adds competition to places and I think he’ll turn out to be a good player for us.

“The good thing is that while these lads have been injured, we’ve all performed pretty well.

“It just goes to prove that the gaffer recruited well in the summer and we’ve got a squad that has competition in places all over the pitch.

“That’s what you need over a long season. You know that when we do get those injuries, we can cope.”

The depth of the squad continues to be tested with the continued absence of target man Clayton Donaldson up front among others.

Plymouth may have come as a nasty reality check but O’Donnell believes the spirit engendered by everyone having to pitch in at different times to cope with key absentees will reap dividends as the campaign unfolds.

“It’s a very physical, demanding league so everybody will be getting their chance throughout the season.

“We’ve shown through the period we’ve gone through that we can put in good performances even when we have been depleted.

“There won’t be one person in the squad thinking that they won’t be part of it. It’s shown already that we’re all going to be involved.

“That’s what keeps everyone going. You know that at some point you’re going to get a chance.

“We’ve had to adapt to different situations but we’ve got good players in the team. We know we can change formations or the style of play.

“That’s the beauty of having a big squad with different characters and different types of players in it.”

O’Donnell agrees with the general feeling that City are still really to convince as promotion contenders. Their record includes losses against top-seven rivals Crewe, Cheltenham and now Plymouth.

Performances have been strong in parts but patchy in others - something he puts down to the enforced changes when players are missing.

“We’ve had a good start but everyone knows there is a lot more to come. We know this group can do better.

“At times, it’s been a little bit stop-start with people getting injuries and things like that.

“It can halt your momentum in terms of performances at times and I think that has been the case.

“But with all these lads coming back, the extra competition can only be a good thing.

“We’ve got a couple of games in hand so it’s still all positive. We’ve just got to keep our feet on the ground and take it week-by-week.”