Peter Taylor could pave the way for a January reshuffle by trimming squad numbers.

The City chief is looking at freshening up his resources for a concerted push over the second half of the season.

Zesh Rehman joined Thai champions Muangthong United last week and others are likely to follow him out of the Valley Parade exit door.

Seven of the squad hit either the end of their loans or contracts at the start of next month, which will allow Taylor the flexibility to make alterations.

He has also spoken to the two chairmen about the option of introducing fresh legs, although the amount of financial backing from the board may hinge on City’s form at the time.

Taylor said: “If there’s anybody we’ve got here who I couldn’t guarantee quite a few first-team starts and all of a sudden there was an enquiry from another football club, then it’s something I would always look into.

“I think I’ll be letting some players go. Looking at the situation with the long-term injuries hopefully playing again by the end of January, it’s all very good news for us.

“I look at the squad of players we have here now, minus a few, and I think we are still very strong. It’s a squad capable of doing very well.”

The imminent return of long-term casualties Simon Ramsden, Michael Flynn and Lewis Hunt will beef up the dressing room. Shane Duff is also back in full training and could be ready for tomorrow’s trip to his former club Cheltenham – if it is on.

That extra competition will allow Taylor to off-load those he feels will not be featuring.

He said: “It doesn’t mean I’m going to sign another couple of centre forwards. That’s not the case.

“I’m still looking at people like Jake Speight and Michael Flynn, who can come in and do us a job there.

“I’m also looking for lots of players here who’ve not had a brilliant first half of the season to have a very good second half.

“I’m really hopeful because of certain things that have gone on in that first half, that it’s going to happen.”

Having lost the Chesterfield game to the weather, Cheltenham is likely to be another casualty.

But Taylor maintains his optimistic view that the growing fixture backlog in the new year could play into City’s hands.

“Once we get people fit, we’ve got a squad that can handle playing two or three games a week,” he said.

“Other clubs might get injuries like we’ve had but the board of directors there might be happy just to be halfway or to stay in the division and maybe they won’t increase their squad.

“I know here we’re looking for better than that. If it means there’s a chance there’s a good player out there and we need them, I’m sure the two chairmen would back us on it.”

Ramsden is expected to rejoin full training next week. Flynn has also reported no ill-effects since his recent infection and the pair have been able to do light work with physio Damian Buck.

Taylor said: “I think both of them are going to be near at about the same time. They have been training with Damian in the same place we have, which is a nice sight.”

Speight’s loan at Port Vale runs out after they play Rotherham on Saturday. He has been limited to just three outings since moving in October.

Vale boss Micky Adams said: “What we’d like to do at the moment is see Jake in more games because we’ve only monitored him in training.

“Whether or not we try to keep Jake, it will be Bradford’s decision because he’s not our player.”