NATHAN Clarke may not be City's leading target for the centre half vacancy despite his appearance in the Valley Parade crowd.

The Leyton Orient captain, who is keen to move to a club nearer his West Yorkshire roots, watched Saturday's 2-0 friendly victory against Carlisle.

Phil Parkinson confirmed he had briefly spoken before the game with Clarke, who still has a year to go on his contract with the London club.

But it is understood that Clarke remains just "one of a few" Parkinson potentially has in mind for a position that he is determined to get right.

The City boss said: "Nathan's an experienced defender and one we've just had a brief chat with. But the centre half situation is something I want to get resolved.

"Obviously we've had deals with players that, for one reason or another, haven't happened. That sometimes happens when you go for those better ones – but we'll get there.

"A couple of centre halves we went for did get snapped up by Championship clubs. But have we missed out on any others we really wanted? Not really.

"The ones we're trying to get have all got a year left on their contract, like Nathan. So it takes time."

Former Sheffield Wednesday centre half Kamil Zayette is thought to have rejected an offer from City. They were also believed to have been interested in Manchester United prospect Tom Thorpe, who joined Rotherham.

Parkinson admits his squad is still light and is targeting another five players in the last five weeks of the transfer window.

He said: "We're trying to get players in. I think we need five more. Whether that takes until the end of August or now, for what we've got numbers-wise we need another four or five coming in."

Parkinson hopes to have his own future confirmed before the first game at Swindon a week on Saturday. As revealed in the Telegraph & Argus, talks have begun with the board over a new deal for the management team.

Parkinson said: "It's positive and I'd like to get that resolved before the season starts so we can put it to bed. We're waiting to hear back from Julian (Rhodes).

"We continue to look to improve. We're pleased that we are making progress in areas and I do feel that.

"It's a good club to be at in terms of the number of season tickets we've sold this year.

"I just want to make sure this squad is strong enough and that's my priority at the moment. There are some good signs."