CITY'S desperate pursuit of another centre half is now focused on the loan market.

With a week to go until the transfer window shuts, Stuart McCall remains no nearer landing the right-sided defender the club have chased all summer.

It is now looking increasingly likely that any late addition will have to be borrowed from a higher division.

The long-running search to replace Rory McArdle has suffered various hiccups.

Gordon Greer's proposed move was kyboshed after concerns from the board about his fitness levels.

Then City's hopes of landing local lad Matty Pearson from Accrington disappeared when his price tag rocketed once Barnsley showed an interest in taking him to the Championship.

Another potential loan deal fell down when the player's parent club changed their mind about where they wanted to send him.

Then last week they lost out on Elliott Moore at Leicester, who decided to send him to their feeder club OH Leuven in Belgium until January instead.

City had been quietly confident of landing the Foxes under-23 captain and were left feeling that they had been strung along by the Premier League side.

But missing out on another target just added to the frustration that has dogged them over the past couple of months.

City boss Stuart McCall said: "People out there know what we're after, so each day maybe a different name will crop up.

"We've had a couple of things happen when we thought deals were tied up but it's looking that loans would be the most likely route for us."

McCall admitted after the Blackburn defeat that the absence of a natural right-footer in the middle of the back four was affecting the way he wants the team to play.

Yet defensively, the pairing of Matt Kilgallon and Nathaniel Knight-Percival has established a solid base.

With suspended skipper Romain Vincelot due to sit out one more game, that combination will continue at Walsall on Saturday.

Kilgallon said: "It's a massive game now for us after losing at home. We haven't been used to that.

"It would have been a good marker if we had beaten Blackburn. Nine points ahead of them would have been a big statement.

"We worked hard enough last week and put in some good crunching tackles but the quality wasn't there.

"But it's early days and we just need to bounce back. If we win against Walsall, it's three wins and no draws – we had too many of them last season.

"It will be a different type of game to Blackburn. I don't think there are going to be many balls played in behind us.

"Walsall like to play more in front of you and it will be about us keeping good concentration. We know it won't be easy but we'll be ready for it."

Meanwhile, Shay McCartan has been called up for Northern Ireland's next two World Cup qualifiers against San Marino and Czech Republic.