City have not written Ross Hannah out of their holiday schedule.

The striker damaged his hamstring in the warm-up before the Plymouth game, sparking fears that he could face a lengthy lay-off.

But Phil Parkinson is confident that it will not be a serious problem and hopes Hannah could still be in consideration for the Christmas games.

Parkinson said: “I don’t think it’s a massive one. Sometimes you’ve just got to let it settle down and it could be no more than a muscle spasm.

“It’s too early to rule him out, although equally you have to be careful with hamstrings on the heavy grounds. But we think he’ll be back in ten days.”

The City chief was unhappy to break up the blossoming attacking partnership between Hannah and James Hanson, which had worked well in the recent games against Gillingham and Wimbledon.

“It was a blow because they have worked well together and I think they’ve shown a decent understanding,” said Parkinson.

“At Gillingham, I felt our attacking threat was as good as it had been all season even though Ross didn’t score.

“Then he scored one in the FA Cup and had another great header saved. As a front two, they were getting to the stage where defenders wouldn’t want to play against them.

“Ross has had a little bit of a tight hamstring going into Saturday but we weren’t concerned about it.

“I left Ross out against Oldham to protect him a little and just keep him fresh for Plymouth. Then to lose him before you even kick-off was a setback for everyone.”

Hannah will certainly not make the trip to second-placed Southend on Friday, so Nahki Wells could get another starting role.

“We’ll look to other people and Nahki has had some good spells for us,” said Parkinson.

“We had to change it late on Saturday, with Craig Fagan going up front and bringing Jack Compton in. I thought Jack did well on the right.”