'A very lucky man': Bradford City boss Michael Duff counts his blessings after maiden League One win

Duff secured the maiden league win of his City tenure in his second game in charge on Saturday - a 2-0 triumph over Stevenage.

It was a day when Duff's second-half substitutions were exquisitely timed, with Nick Powell winning a penalty, converted by Antoni Sarcevic before Will Swan sealed victory after good work from fellow replacement Stephen Humphrys.

Hailing his ‘mentality monsters’, Duff said: "The most pleasing bit – and I've told them this – is that I'm a very lucky man to have walked into a group with the mentality and the togetherness they possess.

"Normally, when you walk into a dressing room, it's broken. There's a disconnect, whether it's a fragment of players or they're just unhappy or whatever.

"Or a lot of the time, when the manager moves on, it's because you've got the biggest budget and you've cherry-picked all the best players and things like that.

"This team has been built on its mentality. So I've just told them, don't lose that. That's been the success all the way from the top."

The day was sweetened by City moving back to the third-tier summit following Huddersfield Town's victory at previous leaders Plymouth Argyle.

Duff, whose side visit Burton Albion on Tuesday evening, added: "We know we're over-achieving in terms of xG tables.

"We know we're over-achieving (in) that we don't create enough and with where we are in a budget league.

"But that's the challenge, try and over-achieve.

"And if you've got that togetherness and that humility, it gives you half a chance, which is what we're seeing."