DEREK Adams eyed the record run of tonight’s FA Cup opponents Exeter and admitted: “We could be doing that.”

City must end an 18-match unbeaten spell to progress past their Devon hosts in the first-round replay.

While Exeter have not lost for three months in setting a club landmark, Adams feels his own side could have been on a similar run – if they had taken their chances.

He said: “We have shown in a lot of games this season, we have competed against the best in the league.

“But our Achilles heel at this stage is that we haven’t put the clear-cut chances we’ve had in the back of the net at the right time.

“That’s why we are not finishing teams off and that’s what we need to become better at.

“We have had injuries to key players and we are getting them back now – and they are goalscoring players with the likes of Lee Angol, Abo Eisa and Caolan Lavery.

“Andy Cook is obviously out at the moment but Theo Robinson has scored three goals in his last five games.

“Charles Vernam has shown that he can assist and score goals, so we’ve got that in the team.

“We are very good at set-plays as well and going forward, we will be an even bigger danger.”

That failure to kill the game when on top cost City again in the first cup tie at Valley Parade 10 days ago. Sam Nombe’s late leveller grabbed Exeter a replay – much to the annoyance of Adams.

“There is (some frustration) because of the chances we created on the day and the way we stopped the threat of Exeter,” he added.

“We should have had the game finished, hitting the post and the bar and missing a couple of good opportunities.

“But that’s the beauty of the FA Cup this season. Last year it would have been finished on the day, now we’ve got to go to a replay but we are looking forward to it.”

Tonight’s winner will pocket £22,629 in prize money – that rises to £34,000 if they then get through in round two at either Cambridge or Northampton, who play again this evening.

City are getting used to clocking up the miles as they once again embark on the longest trip in League Two. But Adams believes that travelling time helps to forge bonds within the squad.

“I always found that in my time at Plymouth Argyle,” he said. “We had to spend every other week on a long journey and the players get to know each other a lot better.

“It forms friendships and, not only that, they look after each other in a greater way as we go forward.

“But nobody wants to travel on a Tuesday night when you could have finished the game first time!”

If the tie is not settled in normal time, the Bantams could face the prospect of an extra half-hour and penalties at St James Park. Adams has not made any special plans for potential spot-kicks.

“I would prefer to get it finished in 90 minutes. But we went to Sunderland last week and won on penalty kicks there.

“You don’t practice them as such the day before a game. But we do practice at times and we have a rough idea who are going to be the ones to take them.”

Adams had planned to bring on Abo Eisa at Port Vale if he had not been forced into the half-time change with Oscar Threlkeld.

But Eisa could finally see some game-time tonight – his first action since the Carabao Cup tie at Nottingham Forest in the opening week of the season.

Adams said: “I want to get him on the pitch as soon as possible to show what he can do. He can open up defences, create goals and score them.

“He has shown that at Scunthorpe last season in a team that didn’t do particularly well. Playing in a team that creates the amount of opportunities we do can only be beneficial for him.”