Dylan Connolly insists standards must be maintained ahead of tonight's Leasing.com Trophy meeting with Manchester City Under-21s (7.30pm).
The Bantams returned to winning ways on Saturday with a 3-1 victory at home to Carlisle United, in Sky Bet League Two.
The Irishman was encouraged by the team's hard-working mentality and is keen to kick on with a similar attitude in the Northern Group F tie.
Connolly said: "We have to really dig in and work harder than whoever is put in front of us.
"In every game, we must strive to be better than we were the match before, and better than the opposition.
"We need to be prepared, firstly, to out-work every team we face, like we did against Carlisle.
"When we work hard, our supporters get behind us more, which gives us a huge boost.
"We need to do everything we can, on the pitch, to make sure they get behind us, because they are extremely important.
"If you cannot play well with 15,000 supporters backing you, then you really should not be here.
"We have to kick on and keep the same attitude and mentality for the upcoming games."
A transfer deadline day signing - on a season-long loan from AFC Wimbledon - the winger has been impressed by what he has seen in West Yorkshire.
With 15 summer aquisitions, Connolly sees Gary Bowyer's squad beginning to take shape and is adamant the best is yet to come.
The 24-year-old added: "We are getting much stronger, as a team, as we work our way through the weeks, which is clear to see.
"Individually, we feel ourselves progressing and getting fitter, stronger and better.
"It is exciting, because we are playing well but it is still early in the season and there is still a lot of time for us to improve even further.
"We are in a great position, at the moment. We have to keep going and working hard to make sure we are progressing, and we will see where that takes us."
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