City manager David Hopkin has paid tribute to Bantams match winner David Ball, following a dramatic 4-3 victory over Shrewsbury Town.
Ball’s stunning 96th-minute strike secured all three points, moving City up to 21st in Sky Bet League One.
There are currently just six points separating 22nd and 13th place and Hopkin was delighted to see his side seal a potentially vital victory.
The Bantams boss said: “To score a winner like that shows the belief the players have in what we are doing.
“It was an absolutely fantastic piece of skill at the end by David Ball. I thought the roof was going to come off Valley Parade.
“We deserved the win given our overall performance. We should have been out of site after the third goal.
“After being 3-1 up, there were four or five good opportunities to extend our lead.
“They took advantage of our missed chances, scoring a very good free-kick and grabbed a penalty in the 93rd minute.
“We challenged the players to keep going, even after we conceded right at the end.
“The players deserve credit for what they did. We knew we had a fantastic opportunity to try and catch Shrewsbury and we took it, which showed great character.
“It was important that we tried to get the three points, which allowed us to drag a few more teams into a similar position as us.”
Jack Payne opened the scoring for the Bantams, with Lewis O’Brien, Eoin Doyle and Ball grabbing the other goals to ensure the hosts' success.
Hopkin added: “David and Jack, two exceptional players, scored two fantastic goals.
“It was great to see Eoin score too, along with a brilliant goal from Lewis.
“The supporters were fantastic for us again, as they always are. You could see what it meant when the winner went in. Everybody at the club was celebrating.
“Hopefully we can now push away from where we are in the league.
“We have been floating around the bottom of the league since I took over, but now we are pulling other teams into this fight and we are ready for it.
“Going into Saturday, we have a fantastic chance of escaping the bottom four and the players all have confidence we can get something from the trip to Wycombe.”
Tickets are still available for Saturday's fixture, taking place at Adams Park, and can be purchased by CLICKING HERE or visiting the ticket office during normal office hours.