Mark Hughes was left frustrated by his side's lack of a clinical edge, after a late equaliser meant the Bantams were held to a 1-1 draw against Mansfield Town at the University of Bradford Stadium.
Hughes shared his disappointment at his side’s inability to see out the game, which led to the Stags taking a point late on, but praised the effort to push the visitors as far as they could.
The Welshman urged his City side to maintain their mental strength and composure when in narrow winning positions, and admitted that the Bantams “needed a calmer head”.
He said: “From our point of view, it is disappointing. We did not see the game out to its conclusion.
“We were very close to winning and it was very frustrating conceding at the end.
“In the second half, they had chances, but I still felt as if we were on top, but you are always at risk at 1-0 up, and we fell short because of that.
“You saw the reaction of their team and staff at the end which, on one hand is understandable, but overall shows how hard they were forced to work.
“I felt we deserved to win today, but, overall we need to be more clinical with our clear-cut chances.
“You have to maintain your mental strength. You have to keep your concentration, but on occasion, tiredness and poor decision-making comes into play.
“At times, we invited more pressure than we needed to do. We needed that calm head and playing at the right time.
“When you are in that position, you need to slow the game down and be a little less anxious.
“That can happen, and we can work on eradicating it from our play.”
The City chief was forced into a few changes this afternoon and was encouraged by strong individual performances, particularly from the returning Ryan East and goal-scorer Andy Cook.
Hughes, overall, was impressed by his Bantams’ work ethic and drive, to take a point from a “divisional rival”, and took pride that they can learn from the experience - ahead of next weekend’s clash against Stevenage.
“The performance itself was good enough to win the game,” he added.
“The changes we made had a positive impact. Ryan East has not had a lot of football, and did a really good job.
“(Andy) Cooky is always dangerous when you put crosses in dangerous positions, and he loves scoring goals against his former sides.
“It was disappointing, but we played well against a good team.
“We have taken four points from a divisional rival who will be up there this season, and it was very close to six.
“I am encouraged by what I saw. The players always put a shift in, so we can work on the lapses in concentration and game-management, ahead of our next game.”