PHIL Parkinson is working frantically to solve City’s attacking dilemma in time for tomorrow’s home clash with Fleetwood.

The Telegraph & Argus understands the club are looking at another potential loan capture to beef up a frontline that has been shorn of options for the weekend.

James Hanson is set to return after sitting out the last two games but Parkinson’s headache concerns who will partner him.

Billy Clarke is out for at least a couple of weeks with a hamstring strain and on-loan Jamie Proctor is not allowed to face his parent club.

Parkinson also does not feel that Steve Davies is ready to start as he continues his comeback from a knee injury.

Davies, who is being watched by League Two Portsmouth according to sources in the south, has come off the bench for the last three games.

Pompey are thought to be monitoring Davies as they look to fill the vacancy left by former Valley Parade trialist Caolan Lavery’s return to Sheffield Wednesday.

But the City boss considers it could be too big a risk to give Davies a full outing at this stage while he continues to build up his match fitness following a three-month absence.

Hartlepool target Luke James also remains at the club for now and is another possible alternative, although his future almost certainly lies elsewhere.

It has left Parkinson with much thinking to do as City return to Valley Parade for the second time in four days – and a game he feels is pivotal to their prospects ahead of a tough run of fixtures.

The Bantams need to claw back ground on the play-off pack after the midweek home loss to Barnsley when a much-improved performance finished empty-handed.

Parkinson said: “We’ve always prided ourselves on strong character and we’ve got to keep showing that. We know tomorrow is such a crucial game for us to get our season up and going again.

“The crowd were superb on Tuesday and they stayed right behind us. Like me, they know we are having a little bit of a difficult period for one reason or another.

“These are the times that players, managers and supporters have got to stick together.

“There’s no better feeling than when everyone does that and we come through it and results start coming again.

“It’s always been a combined effort from everybody and I just feel we need that togetherness.

“We are working really hard to get things right and I don’t think we are far off it. We just need that togetherness of the team and the fans tomorrow for one almighty effort.”

City should this morning find out the result of the scan on Reece Burke’s Achilles, which forced him to quit the Barnsley game at half-time. Nathan Clarke is ready to deputise.

They are also keeping an eye on full backs Stephen Darby and James Meredith who also took knocks the other night. But Parkinson expects both of them to play.

He said: “We’ve had a few lads with bumps and bruises. You saw the resilience the other night and the determination to keep going.

“Darbs had a dead leg and Mezza got a gash on his ankle but in my time with those two lads, it’s been very difficult to tell them they aren’t training let alone not playing.

“They represent everything we want at this club and we’re going to need all that fighting spirit.

“Fleetwood are another team who play 4-5-1 and pack the midfield out. They tend to have a lot of possession in that area and we might have to be patient at times.

“They’ve got some good players but it really is a day when we need to concentrate on reproducing the energy and positivity from Tuesday.

“We desperately wanted to get that win for the supporters more than anything and the way they got behind us. We’ll be going all out to do that tomorrow.”