STUART McCall will concentrate his City recruitment – when he gets the green light to push ahead – in two specific areas.

The absence of any right backs and a single central midfielder in the current squad will focus his attention as and when the club are in position to start making offers.

The midfield conundrum is strange given that City were overrun with contenders for the central roles at the start of the season.

The fact that none of those given the shirts in that time are still with the club is a damning indictment of the under-achieving in League Two.

So, as it stands, McCall has only two senior midfielders to call upon – and one of them is an out-and-out winger.

ZELI ISMAIL has shown in glimpses why he can be an unpredictably exciting attacking weapon on his day. Unfortunately, his first season in claret and amber has also demonstrated that those days are few and far between.

Injury upon injury, niggly ones that take time to shift, prevented the winger building up any momentum and putting together a run of performances to match those that McCall still recalls from his early days with Bury.

Ismail, once touted as the next big thing as a Wolves teenager, is yet to fulfil that promise.

The extra year automatically activated in his contract gives McCall the chance to work his magic as he did with Mark Marshall before.

HARRY PRITCHARD is the jack of all trades in midfield and even up front.

City certainly got the better half of the exchange which saw Pritchard arrive from Blackpool with Sean Scannell going the other way. He has already been released as part of the Tangerines’ cost-cutting measures.

Pritchard has looked equally at home down the middle or given a run out wide and his form up to Christmas was key in City’s continued presence in the promotion places at the time.

But the back injury which flared up in the warm-up at Carlisle on Boxing Day knocked Pritchard out of his stride. It was no coincidence that his team’s performances dropped off from that point.

Lack of goals proved an issue throughout last season with many pointing the finger at Gary Bowyer’s conservative approach, particularly on the road.

The departure of JAMES VAUGHAN in the final week of the January transfer window caused more consternation with claims of a fall-out between the striker and his manager.

McCall has already spoken about making sure Vaughan’s “head is right” if he is going to lead the frontline again into the second of his three-year City contract.

Get Vaughan motivated and firing and you have a potent poacher given the right service. But the City boss needs the frontman to be on the same wavelength after his time away on loan in League One.

One potential plus is the presence of LEE NOVAK after the pair enjoyed a fruitful partnership up front with Huddersfield.

In the six weeks between signing and football shutting down, Novak revealed a finisher’s touch with a superbly-taken individual effort against Stevenage.

He had also claimed the honour of scoring the first goal on McCall’s return in the Grimsby game with a touch on Callum Cooke’s shot.

McCall knows Novak’s value in the dressing room from their time together at Scunthorpe and how he can lead by example.

City certainly don’t lack for experience – or years – up front with the evergreen CLAYTON DONALDSON likely to be one of the oldest in next season’s League Two.

The 36-year-old local lad had an up and down first campaign.

His nous in holding the ball up and winning free-kicks in dangerous positions was noticed more when he wasn’t there after being laid low by a frustrating foot injury.

But Donaldson also had a tendency to fluff perfectly-presentable scoring chances. Big misses against Scunthorpe, Morecambe and Plymouth all spring to mind as the forward was limited to just four goals.

As with Ismail, a second year on his contract has automatically kicked in. If Vaughan is still in the picture come the resumption, Donaldson could have a fight on his hands to earn a regular start.

That is even more the case with KURTIS GUTHRIE who has done little to convince the Bantam public that he was any more than a panicky, last-minute signing on deadline day.

Being snapped up from bottom club Stevenage hardly whetted the appetite and an underwhelming debut against his former team left him well down the pecking order with McCall.

Guthrie, more than anybody, now has plenty to prove in a season when City reputations will once more be on the line.