Scott Banks says promotion experience and form of Bradford City team-mates are filling him with belief

Expectations are high at Valley Parade, which can bring its pressures on Bradford City.

Saturday at Spotland will be a case in point. Many will expect them to steamroller League Two’s worst team, unaware Rochdale have seven points from nine available under interim manager Jim McNulty.

But the main source of pressure comes from their league position, two points behind Stockport County, Carlisle United and Stevenage with a game in hand on the first two and the knowledge that only a top-three finish will be good enough for the Bantams, currently sixth.

It can be harder still if this is all new to you.

"We've got quite a few of the guys who have gone up either automatically or through the play-offs," says manager Mark Hughes. "That experience is important.

"Experience of being in this situation before stands you in good stead and sometimes you can revert to your memories of those games and those moments where you did well or not so well and learn from them.

"You take something from every experience you've been involved in, good, bad or indifferent."

When you look down the squad list it is to the likes of Adam Clayton – back in training after injury this week – and captain Richie Smallwood but even 21-year-old Scott Banks can pitch in when it comes to experiencing promotion races – good and bad. The Crystal Palace winger had loans at Clyde and Dunfermline in Scottish League Two and the Championship respectively.

"At Dunfermline we were put out in the first round of the play-offs against Raith," he recalls.

"We just didn't perform to the level.

"Our performances dropped towards the end of the season. We weren't really in good form going into the play-off games.

"That's horrible because you really believe you can do it and it's really tough to not succeed.

"With Clyde it was the opposite, we were chasing and racking up good performance after good performance so when it came to the play-off games we were firing.

"I'd only been there since January but they got promoted and I still get messages off them now. It was one of the best days of my life so I'd give anything to replicate it here.

"There's plenty of players in this team that have experienced that and it does nothing but help. If players that haven't really had that experience ask what is it like they've got the answers."

The key is keeping your nerve.

"You just try to keep it not too high, not too low," says Banks. "We've had disappointing results and performances but you're not going to be playing your best every game.

"It's how you regroup and we've done that really well all season. We've not had too bad a run all at once, we've been pretty consistent.

"For these three games this week, we'll be flying.

"We look really strong. I think that comes from individual performances in the last few weeks.

"It gives you the most confidence ever going into these games knowing players like Cooky are going to be a problem and are probably going to score. It's good for belief."

"Cooky" is 27-goal striker Andy Cook, shortlisted for League Two player of the season this week.

"He's playing out of his skin, he's just such a problem for defenders," says Banks. "When you have a player like that you just want to supply him as much as you can.

"When I put it to the back stick for Cooky to score that volley (at home to Hartlepool United) I thought, 'I'm pretty fortunate here because that's an assist for me and realistically should he be scoring from there?’ Probably not, but he put it in the bottom corner. If I put it in the right areas I know he's going to put it away and I probably haven't supplied him enough, to be honest.

"We all want him to score as many goals as he can because he deserves it this season, he's been excellent. Hopefully he gets all the accolades he deserves."

Having a player in that form spreads belief throughout a team. It was evident during Monday's 3-1 win over Sutton United, which Banks and Cook both scored in.

"You just get that confidence about your own play," says the Scot. "Everyone's bouncing off each other, a few came out of the air and I was laying them off first time. Those things aren't always as easy as they can seem. You just buzz off each other. You see Cooky winning everything and Jamie (Walker) getting in pockets and you just want to add to it and play off each other.

"You try your hardest not to get drawn into the nerves and take the game as it comes. I don't think any of us felt any nerves on Monday, we were excellent.

"It's just a real positive energy at the minute and we believe we can do it."