STUART McCall confirmed he did hold talks with Nicky Maynard before the striker re-signed for Mansfield.

The Bantams boss continues to target another frontman to fill the gap in his squad since James Vaughan returned to Tranmere.

Maynard was one of those he identified as a potential replacement after netting 15 goals for the Stags last season – but City’s distance from the 33-year-old’s home proved the stumbling block.

McCall said: “I had a good chat with Nicky and I think it would have been a good fit for both of us on the football side of things.

“But it soon became apparent talking geographically it didn’t suit either party. As I said before, I don’t want another James Vaughan situation.

“He wanted to stay where he’s based and I totally understand that.

“That’s the way football is at this moment in time.

“You don’t mind moving around if you’re a young lad.

“But when you get to a certain age, are settled in a place and want to go somewhere that’s a bit more local then that’s fine.

“You may not want the long travelling or staying over a couple of times a week and that’s fair enough.”

After missing out on Maynard, who was also wanted by Port Vale, McCall has been linked with fellow Mansfield forward Danny Rose.

He has also been chasing a couple of targets from teams in higher divisions.

McCall, who also remains in the market for a right back, added: “We will be looking to strengthen in the coming weeks.

“We’ve put calls into clubs but you can’t force them to release players when you want. They’ll have a look at them first and make their decision.

“Likewise, if it’s free agents they might have other options to think about as well. But there’s only so long you can wait and you move on.”

McCall admitted there was “plenty of food for thought” after Saturday’s 3-2 loss to Wigan at Valley Parade in the final pre-season game.

City have conceded double figures in their four warm-up outings – an area of the manager’s focus heading towards Saturday’s season-opener at Bolton in the Carabao Cup.

But the City boss also acknowledged the fact that they had faced teams from higher divisions.

McCall said: “Of course, it’s a concern when you concede and two out of the three goals were poor from our point of view.

“There is stuff that we do need to sharpen up on. There’s no doubt we want to start keeping clean sheets.

“Kenny (Black) and I spoke about that directly after the game.

“But you also have to look at the quality of the opposition in the final third that we’ve been up against.

“On Saturday, the Wigan front lads had all played Championship or higher – the trialist, (Kal) Naismith and (Gary) Roberts.

“James Coppinger scored a fantastic goal against us for Doncaster and Fejiri Okenabirhie got a couple and he’s been decent. Huddersfield had Karlan Grant and Rotherham also had some good forward players.

“It’s understandable that some of the play we’ve faced has been very good. You accept that because it’s a couple of levels above.

“But naturally there is still work to be done so that we defend better.”