Mark Hughes and Bradford City not trying to turn off great expectations this Christmas

The season of goodwill could be very short for him and Bradford City if they suffer a fourth straight defeat at Carlisle United on Boxing Day.

An unhappy Brunton Park away end for the last December 26th match City fans were allowed to attend – in 2019 – was the beginning of the end for then-manager Gary Bowyer. That was only a 0-0 draw so a loss would be hard to stomach.

Current manager Hughes knows expectations follow him so whilst he tried to manage them after defeat at Leyton Orient, he refuses to hide from them.

"We're in a good place," he says.

"We've had two (League Two) defeats against sides in and around us (Orient and Northampton Town). You want to affect them detrimentally and we haven't been able to do that but we've got other opportunities further in the season.

"We're still in a good position, we've had a decent haul of points (33). We're reasonably happy, we're not overly concerned.

"We're in and around where we suspected we would be with a real platform to have a really strong second half of the season. The way we train and the way my teams have been in the past, we've always been strong in the second half of seasons."

Hughes the striker was never better than when under pressure, so he is in no mood to lift it off his players.

"I don't try and underplay the potential of the group because we should be challenging at the top," he argues. "I can't say we're just hoping to stay in this division because people will say that's rubbish, they're better than that.

"I want us to be successful, I want us to think we can achieve things and when you raise expectations sometimes you disappoint people.

"I'll never be fazed by expectation, it gets the adrenaline flowing. It just translates to excitement.

"It was part of the recruitment process, to try and bring players who would be able to deal with that expectation.

"For the most part we've done okay in that regard. People will question our home form but I don't think it's because of apprehension about games at home.

"We've made mistakes but anticipation of what's ahead of us is really exciting from my point of view and I know the players feel that. They're really looking forward to the second half of the season.

"A lot's been discussed in terms of what we can do, now it's a case of making sure we do."