James Hanson is relishing City’s assault on the play-offs after admitting: “I thought we’d blown it.”

The seventh-placed Bantams are the form side in the promotion chase after three straight wins.

With four games left, all against fellow challengers, Hanson insists they have hit peak form at the right moment – and he is not ruling out a sensational late bid for the final automatic spot.

City’s fortunes have transformed dramatically in a fortnight since coming back from two down to draw with Southend. Hanson netted the late equaliser at Valley Parade on Good Friday but feared at the time it would not be enough.

The big striker said: “After the Southend game when we drew, we probably thought it was all over. It just shows how quickly it can change.

“We’ve won three in a row and Exeter have had a slip. Now we’ve got ourselves into seventh and we want to keep pushing higher.

“The lads are buzzing in the dressing room. We’re all looking forward to Saturday now.

“Each game is massive for us and we feel like we’re playing as we were at the start of the season when we were scoring goals for fun.

“You can sense it out there. We’re playing with a lot of confidence and the crowd have been a huge help.

“They get behind you even when you make a mistake and that’s spurred the lads on. These are exciting times.”

Tuesday’s 4-1 thumping of Bristol Rovers, coupled with a fourth straight loss for Exeter at Rotherham, has further raised expectations at Valley Parade.

And as City prepare for the weekend trip to play-off outsiders Chesterfield, Hanson is hungry to continue their surge.

He said: “We’ve all looked at the table and you see the opponents we’ve got to play. We’re six points behind Burton (in third) but we’ve got to play them at home and we’ve got a game in hand.

“Everything is there for us if we can do our business. It would be nice if we could get third and we’re certainly confident.

“Chesterfield have got a game in hand on Exeter, so they’ll still fancy their chances for the play-offs.

“It’s almost a local derby, so to speak, so I’m sure Bradford fans will go down in their numbers – it’s going to be another huge game.”

Hanson, who has now made 53 appearances this season, believes City’s record-breaking run to the Capital One Cup final can also give them the edge on their rivals in terms of being able to handle the big occasion.

He said: “All the other teams would fear us if we got in the play-offs. They’ve seen us on TV and in the big cup games.

“We’ve got the experience of going to Wembley now and playing in front of that crowd.

“We’re hitting form at just the right time. A couple of those draws might turn out to be good points when we’ve not quite played so well but dug in and got something.

“The fact we’ve only lost once since Wembley shows the spirit we’ve got.”