CITY are trying to bring a new face in after sending Aaron Mclean back to Peterborough for the rest of the season.

Phil Parkinson revealed that he hopes to bolster numbers as the club brace themselves for a hectic run of games.

But he does not anticipate an arrival ahead of tomorrow’s home clash with Colchester – or necessarily before the transfer window shuts at 11pm on Monday.

Parkinson said: “There’s possibly one coming in. We are working on one or two things.

“If we don’t do it before Monday, then it’s not a major issue. We have the loan window which opens again a week later.

“It’s not as if we’ve got to pay over the odds to get it done or anything like that. But it’s important we keep numbers up because of the heavy schedule that is coming up.

“We’ve got a great run of games coming up and we want to make sure the squad is strong.”

Any potential headache over Mclean’s return has been removed after City thrashed out a new loan deal with Posh. But the striker will not be allowed to play against his parent club.

“It’s a good move for Aaron and suits all parties,” added Parkinson. “He wants to be in and around it and he wasn’t going to be involved up here.

“He’s well thought of at Peterborough and is closer to the first team, even though he has been on the bench the last few times.

“He wants to play and obviously that’s down to him.”

After the euphoria of beating Chelsea, City return to League One action against the club where Parkinson cut his managerial teeth. He believes the players are in a good place to renew their play-off bid.

“It’s been nice to savour what we achieved last week. As much as we’ve got to move on to focus on the league, you don’t want to turn away from Chelsea too quickly.

“It was an extraordinary achievement and we enjoyed the build-up, the game itself and the aftermath. It has put the football club and the city itself in a very good light.

“Confidence has got to be high and there are a lot of players playing at the top of their game. We’ve just got to make sure the team’s work ethic, which we always talk about, is right.

“We’ve had a good week and the lads have looked sharp in training despite the conditions.

“We’re up against a team with the bit between their teeth and first and foremost we must outwork them. We need to be first to every ball right across the pitch.”

Mark Yeates is hoping that City’s FA Cup success can go hand in hand with promotion – just as he managed with Colchester under Parkinson.

The Irishman scored the fourth goal last week and made amends for hitting the Stamford Bridge woodwork for the U’s in a fifth-round clash nine years ago.

Colchester lost 3-1 to Chelsea but went up at the end of that season – and Yeates would love history to repeat itself.

Yeates said: “It was a great feeling to score, especially after I’d played there with Colchester all those years ago.

“It still gets mentioned quite a lot that I hit the post (at 1-1) in that game, so it made up for that a bit.

“It was great to score what was pretty much the winner and it was one of my best days in football.

“There’s been so much publicity from the result and it’s been hard to get away from it.

“But the main focus is on Colchester now and we have to get ready for that.

“We’re looking to kick on and hopefully the cup run is a good omen, as we did the same when we got promoted at Colchester.”

Yeates made 133 appearances in two spells with Colchester and scored 27 goals, including their first after moving to a new stadium in 2009.

They gave him his first taste of regular football after failing to make the grade with Tottenham and the midfielder remains grateful.

He added: “Colchester United means a lot to me and I always look out for their results.

“I hope that they kick on. The best scenario will be if they stay up and we get promoted.”