STUART McCall feels the picture is clearing as he steps up his bid to swell City’s ranks in the transfer window.

The Bantams boss has just under four weeks before the window shuts to bring in at least a couple more additions.

McCall has sensed that attitudes are changing now that the season is under way and clubs decide which players may be surplus to requirements.

His chief targets are still another striker, most likely a younger loan prospect from the Premier League or Championship, and a right back.

McCall said: “I had three managers talk to me the other morning who’d had meetings with their football clubs this week regarding their (under) 23s and have highlighted who they are willing to let out on loan.

“More so now the season’s getting into it a little bit. Managers, coaches and academy managers are making decisions on who they would like to stay around, who they’d like to go out on loan and to what level.

“Do they want to go up to Scotland or go abroad? Do they want to stay in League One or whatever?

“There are a lot of things for every club to evaluate. At the moment, League Two is obviously bottom of the list regarding where they want to send players.

“But there are still good ones out there and we’re hopeful of getting some good ones in.”

McCall’s phone has been even busier in the wake of being thrashed 5-0 by Lincoln in midweek.

“It’s no surprise after the result of our game came out,” he added. “I had a lot more calls on Wednesday.

“Agents who had been coming on to me the previous weeks see a score like that and think we need a new goalkeeper, new centre halves etc.

“In spite of that I love agents coming on to me and giving me as many players as they can. I always look into them and if they suit ‘great’. I’m open to anyone.

“When I’ve asked for certain positions, they’ve not had anyone. But not only is our landscape changing daily, so is other clubs as well.

“Who wasn’t available two weeks ago may be available now. We’ve got to keep looking.”

City are currently well under the £1.5 million wage ceiling imposed by the new salary cap for clubs in League Two. It is thought that McCall still has almost £400,000 to play with.

As he pushes to add numbers, the Bantams chief will still work with a leaner squad than the one he took over in February.

“Over my career, since I’ve been managing and coaching with Kenny (Black), we’ve done that. It keeps everyone hungry and at it with always the chance of being in the squad.

“Last season we ended up with 28 – six or eight people knew every day in training they had no chance of being in the squad for whatever reason.

“They lay off a little bit and you don’t get that intensity you want in training.

“Obviously, you’ve got to be relatively lucky with injuries and don’t have a flood of them. But I certainly think it makes your group a lot more competitive (to keep numbers down).

“Everyone is trimming their squads. As we know, there’s naturally a lot less money in football than there was six months ago. But it’s something we are evaluating all the time.”