TYREIK Wright will head off on international duty hoping he will still have a City starting spot when he gets back.

Wright earned plaudits from Mark Hughes after claiming a goal and an assist in Saturday’s 3-0 win over Stevenage.

The Aston Villa loanee produced a man-of-the-match display on his full debut after coming in for the injured Dion Pereira.

Wright flies out to Dublin tomorrow to link up with the Republic of Ireland under-21 squad for their Euro qualifying double-header with Israel.

They play on Friday night with the second leg in Tel Aviv next Tuesday.

But that means he misses City’s home clash with Wimbledon next weekend - and leaves him with a fight to regain his place.

Wright said: “We’re hopefully going to make history because Ireland have never qualified for the finals before. But I’ll obviously be checking on the Bradford result.

“I’m loving it here. There’s a massive amount of competition for my position and you’ve got to be on it for the full 90 minutes.

“Football’s unpredictable so you’ve got to make sure you’re ready when you’re given the chance.

“We always push each other in training so that hopefully makes us better players.”

City’s win over Stevenage - and first against a team managed by Steve Evans - was their fourth in five games.

Like his manager, Wright can feel the strong belief in the dressing room as the fifth-placed Bantams clock up the points.

“We’re a resilient team,” he added. “We carried on the momentum from the last couple of games and seeing out games, like at Tranmere last Tuesday.

“That showed how much we want to win. We’re up one position in the league and we want to keep that going.

“It makes it feel 10 times better when you get wins like that. Now we want to get another three points against Wimbledon to build that momentum.”

Wright got in on the act after supplying the cross for Andy Cook to score his second goal.

“We spoke at half-time saying that another goal would kill the game off,” he said.

“It was a great ball from Richie (Smallwood). I got on the end of it and stuck it in the box and Andy Cook puts them away like there’s no tomorrow.

“He’s been excellent since I came in. Even if he’s not putting them in, he’s making defenders work really hard for it.

“It’s an absolute pleasure to play with him. He’s just a goal poacher.

“I’m over the moon to get my first goal on my full debut and be able to celebrate in front of the fans as well.

“I wish it had been at the other end but I’m sure there will be time to celebrate there this season.”

Hughes was delighted with Wright's first 90 minutes for the club after two previous outings from the bench.

The City boss said: "I thought he gave us a good outlet and showed his quality.

“He’s obviously got pace that can take the ball up the other end of the pitch for us. But he’s got good awareness, is calm in possession and keeps the ball.”