City’s slow starters are under orders to bolt out of the blocks at Southend on Friday.

The Bantams began both halves sluggishly in the 1-1 draw with Plymouth.

It is becoming a worrying trend, particularly after half-time, and one that Phil Parkinson is demanding his players snap out of.

He said: “I can’t work out why it keeps happening but it’s something we have to rectify.

“We’d spoken to the lads beforehand and told them how important it was.

“You look at how we played against Wimbledon and there was not a great deal of difference. But we scored a couple of early goals in that game which settled everybody down.

“We didn’t have a great first ten minutes of the second half and that’s happened the last couple of home games.

“I don’t know if it’s a mental thing but we’ve got to look at it again. We’ll sit down with them this week and go through it.”

Ross Hannah’s early strike in the FA Cup win over Wimbledon 11 days ago was the only time in the last 13 games when City have struck in the opening ten minutes.

Their only goal in the same period at the start of the second came from the JPT derby with Huddersfield two months ago when Town defender Antony Kay scored in his own net.

City have not got off to a flier in the league since Kyel Reid’s sixth-minute opener at Burton on October 1.

And they have not hit the target immediately after half-time for three months since Ritchie Jones scored at Port Vale in Parkinson’s first loss in charge.

City need a strong platform for both halves if they are to upset the odds in a game that will be seen by pundits as a home banker.

The Bantams are still chasing a first victory on the road – and they have never won at Southend’s Roots Hall in 14 previous attempts.

So Parkinson, who watched Southend’s FA Cup replay at Oldham last night, is determined to ensure his team are not caught napping by their second-placed hosts.

He added: “We’ll remind the lads about it again because we can’t allow it to continue.

“There was a little bit of tension on Saturday in the way both teams played. We still had enough chances to win the game but didn’t work the keeper enough.

“When we got going, we had all the play in the first half. Jon (McLaughlin) hardly touched the ball.

“But the period after half-time wasn’t so good and we conceded the goal. After that we played well again and had a lot of decent opportunities.”