Mark Hughes says Bradford City's confidence and momentum are unaffected by midweek 'defeat'

The Bantams welcome Stockport County on Saturday unbeaten in eight matches after they drew their midweek match with Leicester City Under-21s. All they lost was a penalty shoot-out tie-breaker to decide who got a bonus point.

Group-match defeats in the lightly-regarded competition are easy to shrug off at the best of times, but Hughes felt he gained more than he lost by experimenting with a three-man central defence. He has not ruled out returning to it at a later date.

"There's no damage at all to our confidence," he reflected. "We're on a great run at the moment and really enjoying playing.

"The game was what it was and there's always the potential because you don't quite know what your opposition you're up against and what shape they're going to go with because they're young lads finding their way in the game.

"That's not how we'd prepare against a League Two side because we have more information.

"It (City's momentum) is still there. it's hard work to generate momentum but once you have it you need to do everything in your power to keep it at a level to allow you to benefit from it.

"We're on a roll of momentum now that we're pleased with.

"It's not easy and things can knock you off track then you have to build from a lower level and start all over again so we don't want that to happen."

Asked what he made of the tactical experiment, Hughes said: "You just need a bit more understanding of when to press, who presses first and all those triggers. When you play a system regularly those triggers become automatic but it's something we will use if it has benefits.

"It's food for thought and another string to our bow."

Hughes is expecting a good test from a Stockport County who were tipped as promotion rivals at the start of the campaign after winning last season's Conference but are 19th.

"A lot of people probably thought they would have had a better start just by virtue of how they did last season and clearly they're a well-resourced club who want to keep progressing," he said."They're good enough to put a run together at some point so we’re under no illusions they're a really strong team at this level."I think it’ll be a really good game. I hope it is."