CITY are waiting to find out if they will see Reece Burke again.

But the indications are that West Ham may decide to hang on to him after he has recovered from his current injury.

Under the terms of a youth loan, Burke’s temporary stay has to be extended each month. And with the England under-20 international back with the Premier League club for treatment for a medial ligament strain, Phil Parkinson is facing up to the possibility of the youngster not returning.

The Hammers have been keeping a close eye on Burke’s progress at Valley Parade and see him very much in their plans.

Parkinson admitted: “We’re just waiting to see what happens with that one and whether they want to call him back. We’ll have to see.

“Reece’s loan is up and he is injured for a couple of weeks anyway.

“If he comes back, it’s fantastic. But if he doesn’t then we wish him all the best and he’s made a good contribution for us.”

Parkinson has been pleased with the growing form of Nathan Clarke, who impressed in Saturday’s 2-0 win at Scunthorpe – City’s sixth clean sheet in a row.

“I thought he was brilliant,” said the City boss. “You’ve got to understand that three games in eight days after not playing is tough.

“But his calmness was there for all to see. He brings a different quality to the team in terms of being a captain of clubs before.

“The winter months are coming and the tough conditions like Saturday suit a player like Nathan.

“The lads love him. The reason they’ve got so much respect for him is that when he was out the team he was terrific with them in the dressing room.

“He never once moaned to me. He just got on with his job and he’s getting his rewards for that now.”

Parkinson was thrilled with City’s display at Glanford Park, where their FA Cup scorers Tony McMahon and Greg Leigh were on target again.

The win made it nine games unbeaten for the Bantams, who are only out of the play-off places on goals scored. But they are just four points behind second place ahead of tomorrow’s showdown with leaders Coventry at Valley Parade.

Parkinson added: “We’ve set ourselves up. I told the lads afterwards to enjoy the sweet taste of victory but as soon as we were back on that coach our feet were firmly on the ground.

“We’ll be reminding the players what we’ve done well and what we need to reproduce. But they are a good set of lads who work so hard for each other.

“That’s how you get clean sheets.

“Ben (Williams) pulled off one outstanding save and his all-round performance was very good. His talking to the back four and his experience in the dressing room is crucial.

“But defending starts from the front and I thought Jordan Bowery stretched the pitch very well. We also played some great stuff as the game opened up.

“We’ve got some terrific footballers and there’s no better sight than when you see Billy Clarke on the half turn on the ball and running at the back four. He’s such a dangerous player.

“I also thought Reidy (Kyel Reid) was excellent. He reset his standards in the Crewe game and I really felt he tortured (Scott) Wiseman at times.”