SEAN Scannell has a chance of making his Valley Parade return against Blackpool on Saturday.

Gary Bowyer will not take any risks with the winger after being out for five-and-a-half months.

But he will monitor him closely in training in the next few days and is prepared to hang on before making a call.

READ MORE: Bantams boss says ref lost plot

He said: “Shaun’s had a good week and we’ll look at giving him a little bit more this week.

“We’ve obviously got to tread with caution with him because of the amount of time he has been out.

“We want to have him for the remainder of the season, rather than just bringing him back for one game and not being quite ready.

“But he could possibly be back at the weekend. We’ll see how he goes in training and take it from there before making any decision.”

Scannell last played against Sunderland at the beginning of October, when he was sent off, and has been side-lined long term with a stress fracture in his back.

He is the only senior winger on City’s books currently and Bowyer will be eager to get him involved for the first time since the Bantams boss took charge.

Meanwhile, Bowyer has been in touch with national refereeing chief David Allison for clarification on what went on at Oxford.

He rang Allison, group director of the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), from the team coach after the game.

Bowyer said: “I know David personally and asked him to have a look at it.

“I explained that I was talking to him calmly on the bus and just want him to please find out what happened.

“I’m hoping he will come back to me with a logical explanation.

“If he (the referee) is uncertain at any stage, then he shouldn’t allow a goal to stand. The benefit of the doubt should go to the defending team.

“That far linesman should have just put his flag up because that stops the game. He’s saying down the microphone for the goal kick to be retaken but doesn’t have the flag raised.

“That’s why I’m waiting to hear from David Allison for confirmation. It will be an interesting comeback, for sure.”

The controversy surrounding Oxford’s winner was the latest in a growing list of big calls to go against City this season.

“Well before my time here, we were talking about the ‘goal’ at Sunderland,” added Bowyer, referring to the Jack Payne effort that was not given despite clearly crossing the line.

“There were a couple of other instances as well.

“David said, ‘welcome back to the game, Gary’ and I replied ‘I won’t be staying much longer if you lot keep going the way you are!’ He agreed that it wasn’t a penalty last week (against Peterborough).

“These are situations where it certainly doesn’t help.”