STUART McCall insists City will not be affected by any “outside noise”.

The Bantams boss has had his say about the vociferous criticism that followed last week’s first defeat of the season against Harrogate.

He got the perfect reaction on the pitch with Saturday’s convincing display at Mansfield to lift the mood going into tomorrow night's Valley Parade date with Walsall.

McCall said: “I’ll get formations wrong at times, tactics wrong, substitutions wrong – I’ll get a lot of things wrong. It’s life, it’s football.

“I’m sure Sir Alex Ferguson got one or two things wrong. But I think we’ll get most things right.

“For all the chat last week about Harrogate, yes we didn’t perform and the system we played didn’t work.

“On Saturday, we performed well and were happy with how we’ve played.

“We lost to Harrogate because we were rotten apparently, not because they were very good.

“Likewise, Mansfield were rotten and we were okay. It depends how you look at things.

“That’s the society we live in and the way things are. But we just focus on what we can affect and work really hard.”

Players and managers accept the world of social media means that every decision and performance will be heavily scrutinised – and the knee-jerk reaction that can follow results.

But McCall aims to ensure his players will remain level-headed whatever is being said around them.

He added: “It’s the business we’re in with forums, social media and Twitter.

“You hear the outcry now in Scotland for (Celtic boss) Neil Lennon to be axed after losing an Old Firm game.

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m absolutely delighted they did get beaten but that’s what it is.

“We were massively disappointed about last week like everybody was.

“I still think we can go on and maybe lost 10 more league games this season and still end up where we want to go.

“For all the doom and gloom and despondency, yeah of course we were hurting.

“We put in a decent performance on Saturday and we’ve got to go and put in another one against a good side tomorrow night.

“Just as we weren’t down and out after four games because we’d lost at home, we’re not swinging from the rafters thinking we’re brilliant because we’ve won an away game.

“We don’t get affected by the outside noise, whether we win, lose or draw.

“We just focus on what we do on the training pitch and work as hard as we can to bring this football club success.”

These are tough times and McCall accepts the continuing absence of any fans from games will also crank up frustration levels.

He said: “Everyone wants to be at the game.

“There’s a lot of frustration out there with the way the world is and going back into certain lockdowns.

“The light at the end of the tunnel is your football club sometimes and going and watching them put on good performances.

“So, when we have one like we did the other night, there’s naturally a lot of despondency. But we can’t affect that.

“Everyone is entitled to their opinion, whether it’s a 15-year-old kid who plays FIFA, be it a retired doctor or someone who drives taxis all his life.

“But I’ve been in the game 40 years as a professional. I think I know a little bit about it and we’ll continue to strive to be the best we can day in, day out, week in, week out.”