CHANGING the manager who signed you before having a chance to play a game will unsettle any new signing.

But in Lee Novak’s case, he has landed firmly on his feet with the switch at the top at Valley Parade.

Novak’s capture from Scunthorpe on transfer deadline day proved to be one of Gary Bowyer’s final acts at the City helm.

The experienced striker was not eligible to feature in the 3-0 loss at Oldham the following day that proved to be the final straw in Bowyer’s 11-month reign.

But the return of Stuart McCall and Kenny Black to the club went down a treat with Novak, who had played for them both with the Iron.

Novak said: “Coming into a new club, it’s been a difficult start because the manager who signed me obviously isn’t here.

“That’s football, it’s a crazy industry and things happen.

“But I’ve worked with the gaffer and Kenny at Scunthorpe and loved it. I probably had one of my best seasons.

“We’ve got to move on now and I think the lads have been brilliant in the two games I’ve been here.

“It’s a positive dressing room, even on Saturday. We knew what the occasion was going to be like and were disappointed not to get the three points after doing so well.

“But we’re buzzing now and hopefully we can put more wins together and continue climbing the table.”

Novak made sure of City’s first win since New Year’s Day with a composed finish for the third goal against Stevenage.

It also made it two-in-two for the 31-year-old, the first City striker to start like that since Devante Cole in 2015.

And having claimed the first against Grimsby via a slight nick off his shoulder from Callum Cooke’s goal-bound drive, there was absolutely no argument about the validity of Tuesday’s effort.

“He couldn’t complain about that one, even though he wasn’t there,” laughed Novak. “Two in two is a good start for me and even better to get three points as well.

“Hopefully that’s the start of something good and I’ll get to score more goals and more importantly get the club back up the league.

“I was aware before the game that we hadn’t won in eight and you could see how much it meant to everyone, the players, the fans and the staff. Hopefully it will be a big confidence boost.”

City had to do it the hard way after trailing at the break. But Novak believes the spirit demonstrated in their fightback will give them momentum going into the trip to in-form Cambridge.

“We have to take confidence from Tuesday night,” he added. “We’ve scored three good goals so hopefully the lads will take that into the weekend.

“It was a game of two halves. We weren’t good enough in the first half and probably struggled to get to grips with their system.

“But we spoke at half-time about needing to show character and go out there and take the game to them.

“We knew that once we got one, we were confident we could go on and get more and that’s the way it panned out.

“The fans came out again to support us and it gave the whole place a lift when we got the first goal.”

Cambridge beat Novak’s former club to make it three wins in a row but the striker is eyeing back-to-back successes for the Bantams.

“Cambridge are on a good run but we’ll let them worry about us. Obviously we’ll look at their strengths and weaknesses but as long as we go down there in a positive mood, which I’m sure we will, I’m confident that we can get three points.”