CITY will listen to any loan offers for midfielder Matty Dolan.

The 21-year-old has made just two late substitute appearances since his last start against Oldham in the JPT nearly three months ago.

And he dropped out of the squad altogether for the Gillingham game to make way for new signing Francois Zoko.

Former club Hartlepool were thought to be chasing Dolan last month and Phil Parkinson has confirmed that City will consider any interest coming in before tomorrow’s teatime loan deadline.

He said: “Matty was obviously frustrated not to make the bench on Saturday but with Billy Knott and Jason Kennedy, I didn’t feel we needed another midfield player.

“He has trained so well and his professionalism has been brilliant. He’s been unlucky really not to get more of a chance.

“If someone did come in before the deadline to take him on loan and we feel it’s the right move for him, then we would consider it.

“It would only be fair to him if he’s offered the chance to get some games somewhere. We feel we have enough options in there, with Andy Halliday also able to play in the centre.”

Parkinson is determined to keep morale high in training this week after the blow of leaking a stoppage-time equaliser against the Gills.

He believes the team are playing well and doesn’t want them to lose any confidence at see ing a much-needed home win snatched from their grasp.

He said: “We are playing some good football. There is a lot of technical ability in the team and good passing to go with it.

“Obviously we’ve got to turn that domination into more wins and we know that. But let’s sit back and look at the overall picture.

“The width of the post has probably cost us really turning over Gillingham. That’s basically it.

“The difference between a very good performance and being disappointed afterwards was down to hitting the post twice and an offside flag to rule out a goal from Jon Stead.

“I think he was very unlucky there. Andy Halliday was coming back from an offside position but Steady looked to be level.

“That’s the fine margins and I don’t think you could fault the performance overall.”

Only four teams in the division have collected fewer home points than the eight City have managed from nine attempts. Leyton Orient, who currently have the worst record, visit Valley Parade on Saturday.

Parkinson added: “What I don’t want to happen is that conceding that goal might create a bit of negativity. I want to keep the confidence levels high.

“The way we are playing now, the players need to be really confident. I want everybody looking to receive the ball and looking bright in possession.

“It’s important to keep it like that. We’ve just got to keep working hard on the training pitch, as we always do.”

Dolan played in a City friendly at Sheffield United’s training ground yesterday – a game that also saw Zoko involved for the first time.

Dolan featured for the full match while Zoko was taken off after 63 minutes, along with James Hanson, who scored City’s first-half goal in a 1-1 draw.