Mark Hughes admitted his side was beaten by Port Vale's ability to restrict them, following this afternoon's defeat.
The Bantams only managed one shot on target despite boasting 57% of the game’s possession, after consecutive victories at Forest Green Rovers and Hartlepool United.
Hughes suggested City's last two successes gave today's visitors enough ammunition to prevent the Bantams from playing how they intended to.
He said: “We have been playing well, and teams will look at how it is we play and have a plan to stop us.
“Teams will try and nullify the threat of how you want to play. We got tricked into playing when we should have clipped the ball into good areas and gone after it.
“You have got to be good enough to think, and it may only be 10 or 15 minutes in the game, 'we need to try something different'.
“We probably needed to turn them around and get them defending towards their goal. All of a sudden, they might have been in two minds on how to deal with it.”
Despite the disappointing result, there were elements of the game which encouraged him.
The Welshman highlighted the impact of goal-scorer Charles Vernam and second-half substitute Jamie Walker, suggesting that their return to the fold will only improve the side.
He added: “We got to welcome back Charles and I thought he was excellent when he came on.
“The same goes for Jamie. He came on and affected the game by just showing a little bit more personality on the ball.
“At times, we lacked a little bit of that, in terms of our guys getting on the ball and resisting challenges, putting their stamp on the game.
“We did not quite do that enough, so there are things to work on.”