Phil Parkinson has called for calmness as City head into a run of games that could define their campaign.

Saturday’s 2-0 loss at Wolves leaves them seven points above the drop zone and still with only one win in four months.

Nathan Doyle also picked up their second first-half red card in successive games. He will miss the home clash with Crewe, the first of a spell against sides around or below City in League One.

Parkinson, whose team remain in mid-table, said: “We’ve got to be calm. We know what we’ve got to do.

“We’ll have a good week’s training and we’ll be ready for it. That’s all we can do.

“There are so many good things in the team at the moment. But we haven’t helped ourselves by going down to ten men. It was a really tough ask of us.”

Middlesbrough midfielder Matty Dolan is set to slot straight into the squad for Doyle.

Parkinson confirmed that an agreement is in place to take the 20-year-old on loan after they ran out of time trying to sign him before the transfer window shut.

“We’d agreed everything with Matty to come as a permanent signing because I was conscious that we might have too many loan players in the squad of 16,” said the City boss.

“Unfortunately there was a discussion between the two clubs about the sell-on clause they wanted and that dragged on through the night.

“It made the paperwork not get done on time, which was a real shame. But we’ve still got an agreement to bring him on loan next week.

“Matty’s a good young player and he’s got a good left foot. He’s competitive and has a good range of passing.

“We can have a look at him, check his fitness levels this week and see if we’re going to throw him straight in.”

City missed both James Hanson, with hamstring trouble, and Andrew Davies at Molineux.

The defender’s absence came as a shock to the travelling fans but Parkinson stressed his return would be managed carefully.

He said: “If you look at last season, I’m pretty sure when he came back he didn’t play back-to-back games straight away. It’s the same now.

“Ideally 70 minutes on Tuesday would have been enough for him. But we needed him out there the way the game was going and he got us the clean sheet.

“Andrew’s knee is stiff but that’s nothing he didn’t expect. We’ve just got to manage him and play him in the right games.”

Hanson and Davies were both in the crowd and Parkinson revealed that the targetman could have played at a push but he was wary of aggravating a problem. Andy Gray replaced Hanson for his first start in 11 months.

The City chief said: “The specialist said that because there’s a nerve problem in the hamstring, it can put him at greater risk of getting a more serious injury, so it was best to leave him.

“It was better to be cautious. But I thought Andy came in and played well in difficult circumstances.”