Confidence is 'not a tablet you can take': Graham Alexander's honest assessment of where Bradford City are at ahead of League Two derby at Harrogate Town

They make the short trip north on the back of three successive home defeats, including their worst for a decade - against Mansfield Town seven days ago.

Their defence currently looks as ravaged as the Valley Parade pitch and confidence is low further forward.

Such is the tightness of the League Two table that City, who had a sniff of the play-offs after their win at Accrington just a fortnight ago, are now 17th.

Should their recent form continue, there is a chance they will equal their worst Football League finish in modern times. Or worse.

They ended in 18th place in 2010-11 and 2011-12. The worst finish prior to that was back in 1965-66 when the club were re-elected in the old Division Four.

Alongside results on the pitch, a perfect storm is brewing around the club.

Owner Stefan Rupp attended last Saturday’s abject loss to Mansfield - his first appearance at a game since September - and was the subject of fans’ ire.

Just as damning, probably moreso, was the sight of some fans deciding they’d had enough when the visitors scored their third goal after just 18 minutes.

There were yawning gaps in League Two’s biggest stadium before they departed anyway. And while the mood was mutinous among some of those who stayed put, a prevailing feeling of apathy among the majority is more disconcerting and worrying from the club’s perspective.

Particularly at a time of year when punters are weighing up whether to renew season tickets or otherwise.

Amid a backdrop in danger of becoming toxic if things continue, those players in claret and amber - a number are out of contract in the summer - must try and provide some balm.

For their own sakes, their management staff, the supporters and the club’s. It’s not easy, but then nothing has been at Bradford City for a good while.

A derby win today would help. But there is a significant flip side should City lose.

Boss Graham Alexander, a good football man whose hurt at recent events is genuine, said: “No-one likes losing games, professionals, fans, staff - the lot.

"All we can do is get our boots on, get out there and make sure we show the right character and attitude because without that, it’s not going to change.

"The only way it starts to change is through the right actions, character and mindset to go forward.

"Confidence is not just going to come and is not a tablet you can take. You have to work at it doing good things.

"It doesn’t have to be special things, but good things over and over again and then your confidence comes back and you do it.

"I have spoken to the lads about their training habits and let’s see who trains well and let’s see who is going to go under and say: ‘what’s the point? You are not going to get anywhere if that is your character and personality.

"It (Saturday) is the next opportunity for us to restore a bit of pride and a little bit of belief from supporters in us and in ourselves as well.

"I know what way - when there’s a two-way path - you have to walk down and I know which is the only way if you want to be better and turn it around. So we are going to take that path.”

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This afternoon is an occasion when the senior players in away ranks must take the lead.

City’s three previous visits to Wetherby Road have already seen a couple of painful defeats. A third would be beyond the pale and the songs from the away end would be unflattering.

There is clear responsibility on the shoulders of City’s experienced professionals in that regard.

Richie Smallwood, Kevin McDonald and Andy Cook to name but three. There’s others too.

Alexander, who will also have known a fair bit about this sort of situation from his playing days alongside his right-hand man who also had a similarly strong career in the EFL in Chris Lucketti, will be expecting of them in that regard.

He commented: "If you’ve been in football for more than two or three seasons, then you must have come through a bad patch. It’s par for the course.

"Even if you have been playing football since year 10, there’s times when you feel bad about yourself or not very confident or you are under the cosh or trying to earn a contract.

"You have to feed off those moments where you overcome challenges and dark moments and become a good professional who has been successful.

"We have players in there who have been successful in the past. Those are the guys who will know that whenever those successful seasons happened, there will have been patches in that where it wasn’t going right.

"As a group, you come together and get yourselves out of it. It’s not just about me and my staff and keeping that feeling going.

"It’s definitely the senior players I would look at and I think we’ve got some good ones to do that.”