Stuart McCall admitted his side proved second best throughout a 1-0 defeat to Harrogate Town at the Utilita Energy Stadium.
Harrogate condemned the Bantams to their first Sky Bet League Two defeat of the campaign in an all-Yorkshire clash - live on Sky Sports.
However the City boss was left frustrated by City’s showing, and knows their performance should have been better.
He said: “It was difficult to take, because we did not perform anywhere near the standard in which we know we can.
“I cannot take anything away from Harrogate who are a good, organised, well-drilled side who started a lot better than us.
“It took us 10 to 15 minutes for us to get into the game and start creating our little openings, but we just were not good enough, and it is as simple as that.
“We had too many players who underperformed, and the best team won. We did not do enough to win the game.
“They got about their game well and were a lot better than us in certain areas. Over the piece, they were the better side.
“We had two or three really good chances which, if we had taken, would have seen us get our noses in front, which was disappointing.
“Callum Cooke and Austen Samuels should have both hit the target with their efforts and that perhaps summed our evening up, in some areas.”
Having suffered defeat on home soil in the league for the first time since last October, McCall is determined to ensure performances pick up from here.
He maintains confidence ahead of the remainder of the campaign and insists his side must bounce back at the weekend.
The Bantams boss added: “We have got to make sure this does not happen again. We did not manage to control the ball enough, like we knew we wanted to.
“There were too many of our players who were a five out of 10. You can get away with two or three players being off their game, but we were worse than that - which has been unlike us, up until now.
“We have a lot of games left, so cannot get too down, and have good squad to call upon and make changes for other lads to get their opportunities when they come in.
“It is naturally a sore one to take, but that is football - you win and you lose. We have to look to strive to do better.
“We have lads who are desperate to play so we will change it again ahead of Mansfield on Saturday.
“There is nothing we can do about this game, now. We can pick it apart and do our analysis, which we will, but we cannot change the result.
“What we can do is make sure we are ready for Saturday, which we will do.”
The Bantams travel to Mansfield Town on Saturday October 17 (3.00pm), with supporters able to catch every minute of the match - LIVE via iFollow - by CLICKING HERE.