DAVID Hopkin refuses to fret about the prospect of City losing any of their loan players next month.

Jack Payne, David Ball, George Miller and Lewis O’Brien have all become key assets for the manager in the fight to beat the League One drop.

Payne is the current top scorer with seven and Ball and Miller have also been in the goals this week. Youngster O’Brien has been arguably the stand-out performer in his first taste of senior football.

But with the transfer window open once again on New Year’s Day, there is a chance that any of those could be recalled by their parent clubs.

Hopkin, though, intends to cross that bridge if and when it comes to it and will not be bogged down by worrying about the possibility.

He said: “These things will happen in January if they do. We can’t control that.

“Jack’s been fantastic since I came in, he’s got better as he’s got fitter. You’ve got Lewis O’Brien, David Ball and George Miller all doing well.

“I want them all to stay and I think they all want to stay, which is testament to what we are trying to do.

“They are obviously not our players and if things change, we’ll need to deal with that.

“If teams take their players back, it shows you’re doing a good job because otherwise they’d just leave them.

“I’d love to keep the four of them but these are things you deal with as a manager. If it does happen, we’ll have to go and try to replace them.

“There’s no point sitting here worrying about what might happen. There’s never a problem, there’s always a solution – that’s how I look at it.”

Payne’s season-long loan at Oxford last year was cut short halfway through by Huddersfield, who recalled the midfielder and then sent him to Blackburn where he won promotion.

He did not find out about that move until January and has been given no indication so far from the Premier League side about their current thinking.

Payne said: “I haven’t had any communication with Huddersfield at all. My agent hasn’t said anything to me.

“I’m playing every game and there’s a big challenge ahead. All I’m thinking about now is doing everything I can to help the team get out of the position we’re in.

“I’m part of the reason we are there because I’ve played every game this season. I’m desperate to help the team.

“I genuinely don’t know what Huddersfield are thinking. But I’ve come here to play games and I’ve played in every one.

“I’m here now and I’ve not been told otherwise so I’m just concentrating on the team.”

City are in a stronger position with Ball because he made three appearances for Rotherham in August. League rules prevent players from featuring for more than two clubs in a season.

Hopkin said: “David has a fantastic attitude towards football and loves playing for Bradford. He’s scoring goals now, he’s had a run of games now and you can see a difference in his play.”