Martin Ling is confident his Torquay United team will respond to their first defeat in ten games when their hopes of a record-equalling eighth successive victory were dashed against Bradford City.

"When we lost at Accrington before Christmas, we bounced back immediately," said the Gulls' manager after a 2-1 home defeat on Saturday. "We need to do it again, and I believe we will. We need to kick on again. I don't think we performed to our best, and we came up against a side that performed to their best.

"We never had enough lads out there who played to their potential. Bradford came with a perfect game-plan, and sometimes you have to give credit to what the opposition do.

David Thomas reports on Saturday's big match

Picture gallery from the Bradford City game

"At half-time, we said that we'd had three players better than their 11, and they'd had about eight, and we needed to change that around."

Ling added: There was no lack of effort in the second half, but we never really got going as we know we can. The biggest disappointment was that the defeat, when it finally came, was here at Plainmoor. But these things often happen against a lower team. We are over-achieving, and Bradford are under-achieving."

Ling added: "They've got some good players, and they showed up and performed today. They have done to us what we've done to other teams. We're disappointed, but not downbeat, that's for sure."

Bradford manager Phil Parkinson said: "We were up against the form team in the country, and I thought we put in a really strong display.

"It was a real challenge for us, the reason that you're in football. We were competitive with and without the ball, and the players really worked hard for each other.

"I was delighted with the set-up of the team and Fagan, Smalley and Reid caused them all sorts of problems.

"You had that feeling that something could happen every time we got our wide players on the ball.

"We are slowly getting our players back to fitness and into the team. I do feel that our best XI is a match for any side in this division."