PHIL Parkinson is ready to extend his four-year stay at Valley Parade and insists: “I’m still as hungry as ever.”

Parkinson and his coaching staff expect to sign new deals once the final details have been agreed between City and the League Managers’ Association. The present ones run out next summer.

Currently the sixth-longest serving boss in the country, tomorrow’s home clash with Port Vale marks his fourth anniversary at the helm.

Parkinson, who will be managing his 224th City game, said: “When I think back, we’ve had some incredible times and I’m hungry to create some more.

“My commitment and desire to do that has not diminished one bit since the day I walked in.

“You have the trials and tribulations as a manager along the way. But one thing about me, the staff and the board, is that we do work very hard to try and bring success for our supporters.

“We’re going to continue to try to do that as best we can.

“It’s the same contract with all the staff as we had before, so there’s not much negotiating to do.

“Julian (Rhodes) wanted to speak to the LMA lawyers to tidy up a few bits in the contract. When he comes back to us, hopefully we’ll get it done.”

Parkinson’s special day would be a timely opportunity for City to claim a first win of the season.

They have collected only two points from the opening four league games but Parkinson took heart from their committed display in last week’s goalless draw at Barnsley.

He added: “We’ve got a lot of new players and I’m enjoying working with them on the training ground.

“We would have loved to have had a few more results at this stage. But the signs are getting better and that’s the key.

“We’ve just got to keep working. It’s the same as with any manager, you work hard to get the best out of the players you’ve got.

“It’s been good to work on the training pitch building on what we did last week.

“It was a ‘get back to basics’ type of day for us and we needed that.

“We looked strong physically and I was relieved more than anything. I can see that starting to come into training as well.

“The discipline of the team was excellent. We gave ourselves a platform and that’s what we’re all about.

“When you haven’t had a great start, you have to put some building blocks back in place and that’s what we’re trying to do.”

Parkinson insists the club’s striker search is on-going, although he is hedging his bets over whether a deal will be done before the transfer deadline on Tuesday. Otherwise, City will have to wait a further week for the emergency loan window to open.

The club last night refused to confirm or deny their target was former Manchester City youngster Devante Cole, son of ex-Newcastle and Manchester United hitman Andrew.

Parkinson said: “We are making progress in one or two areas so hopefully we can strengthen. Going into this period up to Christmas with just three strikers would be too light.

“We can’t rush Billy Clarke back because the medial ligament is an injury which is very delicate and we’ve got to be right. So we’ve got to think without Billy for the foreseeable future.”

There are no fresh injury concerns for the weekend but Tony McMahon misses out again with a virus. Parkinson is hoping he can return to training at some point next week now the problem has been diagnosed.

He said: “In a way, I think it’s almost a bit of relief for him that we’ve found out what it is.

“Tony played the first couple of games and didn’t feel great. He didn’t have that strength of the Tony McMahon we saw at the back end of last season.

“He didn’t look the same player but he’d had a good pre-season prior to that. If you look at Burnley away, he was excellent.

“We’re just pleased he’s had the blood tests and the doctor has got to the bottom of it.”

Meanwhile, loan signings Lee Evans and Reece Burke will both miss next weekend’s trip to Oldham because of international commitments.

Evans is in the Wales under-21 squad to face Luxembourg while Burke has been called up for England under-18s against Czech Republic a week on Monday.