Sheffield Wednesday boss Dave Jones remained optimistic on Championship survival despite a 1-0 defeat at fellow-strugglers Peterborough.
A magical finish from Grant McCann earned three priceless points for the hosts who keep out of the drop zone on goal difference.
But with Wednesday one point above the relegation spots with only a game remaining, their hopes are still good.
"There are several teams still in danger but our destiny is in our own hands and that is what is important," Jones said. "We're not in the position of having to rely on other results.
"Staying in this league will be a far bigger achievement than winning promotion last season to get here."
It was McCann's stunning curling free-kick in the 64th minute that separated the sides, with the visitors struggling to provide any resistance.
"There were a lot of nervous people out there on the pitch and it was always going to take something special to win the game," Jones added.
"We didn't do any better or worse than Peterborough did, but they had that one moment that mattered. It was sloppy on our part to concede the free-kick.
"We decided to play a system that has brought us success away this season, but unfortunately that wasn't the case today. We had a couple of chances but their keeper saved one and we should have done better with another."
The Robins will now play Northampton Town over two-legs with the Bantams facing Burton Albion with a place in the Wembley play-off final at stake.
"Bradford are a really, really good side - they got to the final of the Carling Cup - so I'm not too disappointed that we won't be playing them," Yates said.
"That's no disrespect to Northampton who are also a good team with a top manager but Bradford are a really good team.
"We are in the play-offs and that's a great achievement for the players on the back of the disappointment of last year. We have to use that in a positive manner to make sure that we are as good as we can be on Thursday and as good as we can be on the following Sunday.
"The league doesn't lie after 46 games and we are right up there with the best. We can be a little bit disappointed today because we have not got that third spot but we need to go back to work and get ready to go again. It just wasn't our day and Marlon [Pack] summed things up when he hit the post - not that it would have mattered.
"If you get 20 clean sheets then you should be getting automatic promotion but it's a strange league this year. It has been really tight from top to bottom."
