Peter Taylor remains confident he can keep striker Jason Price at Valley Parade until at least January.

The experienced striker has impressed since joining on loan from Carlisle but the initial one-month agreement is set to expire after Saturday’s clash with Macclesfield.

It looks almost certain Price’s stay will be extended but Taylor will not be given the final go-ahead until after the weekend’s games.

“I’ve spoken to (Carlisle manager) Greg Abbott and everything looks positive at the minute,” said the City boss.

“As long as they don’t get loads of injuries on Saturday I’m confident we can increase it until January at least.”

Taylor also hailed Price’s impact at Valley Parade, despite the fact the 33-year-old Welshman is still seeking his first goal.

“If your performance means you deserved a goal or deserved to win, as a manager that’s all you can ask,” he said.

“Jason Price has deserved to score quite a few goals since arriving here because his performances have been so good.

“Thankfully it’s not all about getting goals with Jason because he’s been lining goals up and getting people in the right areas.”

Meanwhile, Price’s fellow striker James Hanson remains a slight doubt for the visit of Macc after missing last week’s trip to Wycombe with a hamstring problem.

Taylor added: “James Hanson has trained a little bit but I’m not sure we’ll take the risk of starting him with two games in four days.

“If he has no reaction to the problem there’s a chance he could be on the bench, if not I’m going to leave him out until Tuesday.”