JAMES Hanson has joined the call to keep Jon Stead at Valley Parade.

City have opened talks with the ten-goal striker's agent about a new deal in the summer after his loan from Huddersfield ends.

Hanson sees his experienced partner as the perfect mentor up front and is keen to see him stay.

"Steady's been brilliant since he came in and I'm hoping that he signs for next season and beyond," he said.

"I did a fans' evening the other night at the casino and bigged him up so much. They asked me who was the best player I'd played with and, on his day, it is Jon Stead.

"When you look at the Chelsea game, he was magnificent. He's such a great partner to work off. He's so intelligent with the way he wins free-kicks and protects the ball.

"There's quite a lot about his game that I like and areas where I want to improve myself. Having someone like him in the building helps me massively."

Hanson admits he must do better at "buying" free-kicks, rather than trying to play on when he has been fouled and getting nothing from referees.

He said: "Sometimes I can be a bit too honest. I don't want to go down too easily when it's a genuine foul.

"Then you give the defender the same treatment and he acts a bit clever, goes down and gets the foul. It's frustrating."