David Hopkin praised the mental strength of his side following City’s dramatic late draw at Peterborough in the second round of the Emirates FA Cup.
Kelvin Mellor’s wonder strike - which came moments prior to an 89th-minute Luca Colville equaliser - forced a replay, putting the Bantams in the hat for tonight’s third-round draw.
City boss Hopkin was keen to highlight the mental battle his side overcame to complete an impressive fightback.
He said: “We conceded two poor goals in the first half and I was looking for a response at half-time, as we wanted to make sure we were still in the hat for the next round.
“When the first goal went in, there was always a chance for us. Then Luca comes on and scores a fantastic goal.
“I want to give the players huge credit for rising to the challenge set at half-time. Kelvin came up with a great goal and Luca has a left foot that always invites him to take the shot on.
“We are still in the cup, which looked unlikely in the second half. This was all about the mental strength and overcoming adversity."
More than 250 City supporters made the trip to Peterborough’s ABAX Stadium and they departed delighted, following the Bantams’ late rally.
The result means City have recorded only one defeat in their last five outings and Hopkin is keen to see his side continuing to improve.
Hopkin added: “The performance was encouraging, especially compared to the result in midweek at Luton. The players need to take a great deal of credit for that.
“The fans who travelled down gave us great backing, once again. They saw their team work for 90-plus minutes in order to get something from a difficult game.
“When you have fans like ours, you want to perform for them every week.
“We know we will have another very tough game against Peterborough at home, next week, but we will welcome the challenge.
“Everybody is now looking forward to the draw and seeing what that brings.”
Tonight’s third-round Emirates FA Cup draw will get underway from 7.30pm and will be screened live on BBC One - from Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge.