Mark Hughes described City’s performance as an ‘eye opener’, following today's 3-0 loss to Colchester United.
The Bantams' plight on the road came after a number of changes to the side due to the intensity of their Good Friday fixture.
A difficult afternoon in Essex saw City reduced to 10 men before conceding a third and final goal, and Hughes suggested the game was one to learn from.
He said: “I made the changes to the team because I was aware of the huge effort they put in on Friday. Maybe I underestimated how much it took out of them.
“There was not that dynamic movement and desire in our play, it was all very flat from the kick-off.
“I thought it was an opportunity to look at the other guys, but we dropped today unfortunately.
“It is not where we want to be, and it is not where we will be in the future. It was a little bit of an eye opener.”
City’s defeat on the road means they are now winless in their last six matches, and Hughes insisted they must improve ahead of their final few fixtures.
The Welshman is looking to turn recent performances into wins to carry some momentum over to next season.
He added: “We will pick ourselves up. We have got a big game again on the weekend.
“We are at home again and we need to start winning games between now and the end of the season.
“Today has not helped us in that regard, in terms of confidence, but we will pick ourselves up and go again.
“There are not too many positives from today if I am honest.”