It was an unusual afternoon for striker James Hanson at Dagenham.

Not so much that it was the first away league game that he has started and City have lost.

But more to do with the fact that Hanson didn’t have it all his own way when going up for headers.

For once, the towering targetman did not rule the airwaves as Dagenham’s uncompromising duo Mark Arber and Will Antwi gave as good as they got.

Hanson still won his fair share of flick-ons and knockdowns. But it didn’t save him from a word or two in the dressing room from Stuart McCall afterwards.

Hanson smiled: “The gaffer said he expects me now to win every header.

“So he might be a bit harsh on me at times when I don’t.

“It was more of a 50-50 battle last week and I couldn’t dominate the two centre halves as much.

“But it’s just not possible to do that all the time.”

The manager’s expectations demonstrate how far the former Guiseley and Eccleshill United player has come since packing in his day job in the Co-op during the summer.

He is far from the finished article and, as Mark Lawn points out, the striker will need to introduce some guile into his play over time against defenders quickly wising up on his aerial danger.

“Dagenham were very good at what they do,” admitted Hanson. “The long ball game works well for them.

“They turn back to front so quickly and counter attack well. But we conceded a couple of sloppy goals and weren’t really at the races ourselves.”

Hanson, with four goals under his belt already, is very much a focal point of the current City front line and will be crash-banging around the Hereford penalty box again on Saturday.

A couple of back-to-back defeats have knocked the gloss off his rookie season in the professional ranks.

But the big fella is confident those lost points can be regained in the next few weeks. “Dagenham is the hardest place to go in this league and we were a bit unlucky not to get a point.

“But it’s how we react to what has happened now that matters and I think we’ve got four winnable games coming up.

“We’ve got three of the next four at home and if we put the same effort in as we did against Crewe, then we’ll be all right.

“After Hereford, it’s Macclesfield away and we’ve got to be confident of getting two wins which will push us back up into the play-off hunt.”

Hanson, meanwhile, is determined not to get caught up in the on-going saga over his transfer fee from Guiseley.

While City await the non-league side’s response to their “final” offer, and the prospect of a tribunal looms, the player in question is keeping his head well clear.

Hanson said: “It’s not really down to me.

“It’s between the two clubs but I hope that it’s sorted out quickly for everyone.

“I’m loving life as a professional player and just grateful that Bradford have given me the chance. Hopefully I can keep playing well and scoring some goals.”