Lewis: There is much more to come from Bradford City

Saturday’s 2-1 win at Harrogate stretched the current unbeaten league run to seven games.

The Bantams moved up to fourth with a first-ever success against the north Yorkshire side in their fifth competitive meeting.

But Lewis is convinced there is a lot more to come when his team really get it together.

“It wasn’t pretty by any stretch of the imagination,” he said. “We feel that we robbed three points.

“We’ve said it a couple of times now when we’ve won ugly. It’s good teams that win when they’re not at their best.

“I still feel that we’re waiting to click into action. When we do, I think we are going to beat teams 4-0 or 5-0 and we’re not far away from that now."

Harrogate, like most of City's opponents up to now, produced their best display of the season despite being on a poor recent run. That's something Lewis has quickly grown to expect.

“We recognise that we’re a big team in this league. You’ve only got to come to a ground like Harrogate and you can see the difference with Valley Parade.

Lewis added: “We know we’re a bit of a scalp. Teams try and turn it on when they play us.

“We’re a big game for everybody. They look at the fixture list and we’re an easy team to get up for.

“It’s up to us to make sure we manage the opposition in that respect. They’ll be extra fired up but we’ve got our targets.

“The gaffer is hard on us and that’s a good thing. We draw 2-2 at home against Wimbledon and nobody’s happy with that.

“Unless we’re winning every week, nobody’s happy. That’s a good environment to be in because there’s that much competition for places and quality in the side, if you don’t do your job one week you could be out.”

Lewis got the man-of-the-match plaudits for several key saves when City were under pressure.

But he also blamed himself for allowing Harrogate’s equaliser from Jaheim Headley just after half-time and will scrutinise the video with goalkeeping coach Colin Doyle.

“I don’t really want to be beaten near post. He hit it well and maybe caught me off guard but I should be doing better with that.

“That’s why I apologised to the lads after the game. Thankfully Tyreik (Wright) got the winning goal and dragged us out of it.

“It’s up to me to look at that with Doyler, which we will do, and assess what I should have done differently.

Mark Hughes wants City to keep playing the ball out from the back (Image: Thomas Gadd)

“But it was a nice feeling for me to then go on and make a couple of saves and feel like I’ve contributed.

“I’d love to win by three or four every week but there is something quite satisfying when you have to dig in.

“You’re there on the pitch with your mates and in battle together. As a defensive player, it’s a great feeling to know we’ve played a part in it.”

Wright’s winner also stemmed from the defence after a block tackle from Brad Halliday stole possession just outside City’s box. The visitors then sprang into action on the counter-attack before Lee Angol fed the winger for a cute finish.

Lewis said: “We’re there to defend the goal, but we’re also the first line of attack.

“We’ve done a lot of work in the last week and weeks gone by about playing out from the back.

“I know sometimes fans can be a little bit frustrated that I’m passing the ball out and we’re playing into centre midfield.

"I can hear them shouting, 'just kick it', but that’s how the gaffer wants us to play - and I do as I’m told.

“It’s something that we’ll have to get better at because that’s what he wants. It’s a process that will come together in time.

“We need to be patient. The gaffer has a plan and we stick to it.”

Lewis has been on the pitch for every minute of City’s season so far as he makes up for lost time when he was right down the pecking order at Southampton.

That’s why he is just as keen to be playing again at Valley Parade tomorrow in the Papa John’s Trophy against Leicester under-21s.

He said: “If there’s a friendly on down the park, then I want to be playing.

“Rom (Romoney Crichlow) was saying to me, ‘surely you’ll want the night off?’ But for me I feel like I’ve missed out on four years of my career not really playing at Southampton.

“If there’s a game to be played then, Lord knows, I want to be playing in it.

“It might sound silly because these are my first few games. But this is what I dreamed of when I was a kid.

“Saturday afternoons and Tuesday nights are the best parts of the week. Whenever I get to play, especially for this club which I’m absolutely loving, is a dream come true.

“When you’ve had to be patient and bide your time, it feels sweeter too.”