3:04pm Thursday 1st February 2007
By Simon Parker
Billy Paynter hopes City have found the cure for his "itchy feet".
Paynter, one of the trio of deadline-day loan signings, is bursting to get going against Nottingham Forest at the Intersonic Stadium on Saturday.
Along with Bruce Dyer and Kelly Youga, the 22-year-old Scouse striker is due to be involved in his first training session with the club tomorrow morning.
He is desperate to get the starting nod from Colin Todd - and make up for a "non-event" last 12 months.
Since leaving Port Vale for Hull this time last year, Paynter's career has hit the wall. He left the KC Stadium just seven months later in a £200,000 move to Southend but has found chances equally hard to come by at Roots Hall.
He said: "I'm really grateful to Bradford for this opportunity because I haven't had a game for a while now. I was getting itchy feet and needed to be playing.
"I did my hamstring in October and basically haven't had a look-in since, especially with Southend doing well at the moment.
"I've been keeping myself fit and had one or two games in the reserves but I've been missing first-team football. I was waiting for a chance at Southend but it hasn't happened."
Former Vale team-mates Marc Bridge-Wilkinson and David Hibbert are familiar faces for Paynter, who made his debut against Walsall as a 16-year-old. He made 119 league starts in six years in the Potteries and netted 30 goals.
Paynter said: "Vale gave me a chance very early and I'll always thank them for that. They aren't the richest club in the world and so the youngsters are pushed through.
"I was getting five minutes here and there at first but by the time I was 18 I broke into the side regularly.
"Marc was one of the players I always looked up to and would often go to him for advice. He's a very good player and the sort of person the younger ones look up to.
"I spoke to him the other night about Bradford and he told me what to expect here and how the team like to play."
Paynter has made ten appearances for Southend but has not featured since pulling his hamstring in a 3-1 Carling Cup win at Leeds in October.
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