In their previous game they'd conceded a goal in stoppage time, albeit a third in a 3-0 defeat at Derby. "I showed them a club of the 92nd minute from that game and people's body language and reactions were poor, almost as if it didn't matter," O'Driscoll said ahead of the trip to Burnley.
"When you're looking to build something, the benchmark will be when it doesn't really matter anymore, are they still prepared to do it? We found out they weren't.
"But when you reflect back to the Sheffield Wednesday game (Easter Monday), their perception of themselves in the 92 minute is of a team that was focused, doing the right things, playing forward, putting their bodies on the line and we got a result, so those are the two contrasts.
"They're human beings who are always liable to fall off and fail, so we've just got to make sure we provide support at times, direction at other times and sometimes a kick up the backside.
"What you're trying to instil in the players is belief, and when they get success and they've stuck to their tasks it will increase their belief and confidence, that's what we're trying to nurture."
Speaking about Burnley, he added: "They're a team who have come down from the Premier division and when you give the supporters a taste of that competition and all it brings, you come under that pressure to get back there, but finances dictate that they won't want to put the club in jeopardy.
"I think Sean is trying to emulate what he did at Watford in terms of bringing through younger players, who are hungry and trying to develop them while they're playing."
Sean Dyche meanwhile is surveying a situation that sees the Clarets only four points above the drop zone. He said: "You can't take anything for granted, be it a pre-season game behind closed doors, a friendly or a cup tie.
"We prepare properly and just because this is Bristol City doesn't mean we just turn up and win. We have to earn it by preparing properly and be mentally and physically right to give a performance that can see us through.
"That's the plan. It's not quite that easy because there are eleven others out there trying to stop you, but the plan is to keep the performance level, build on it, improve it and it basically comes down to keeping them out at one end and putting them in at the other.
"We have been good at stopping them. We still need more going in. It really is finding that blend. There have been pockets of finding it and then we haven't found it as easy, but there are good signs and we have to build on those good signs. We've only lost one in six now and that's a good thing.
"It's the most amazing fact that every single club has something to play for, one way or another. Even above us clubs have work to do and that makes it exciting and a great challenge to keep going."
