BRYCE Hosannah is taking inspiration from England international Reece James as he builds on an eye-catching start with City.

The young defender is already impressing at the start of his season-long loan from Leeds and was in excellent form in the midweek loss at Bolton.

Hosannah revealed that he is keeping close tabs on the progress of Chelsea star James after the pair regularly played together while growing up in London.

He said: “His dad Nigel was a coach and had this academy. We used to train there together when we were a bit younger.

“Reece was always a quality player even from a young age. He was not always a right back but converted there and made the position his own.

“I’m really happy for him with how he’s doing and to see him pushing on.”

Hosannah’s own progress is going along nicely as he settles into his first full year of senior football after stepping up from the under-23s with Leeds.

He is adapting to the first-team environment and mixing with battle-hardened pros such as Clayton Donaldson, Billy Clarke, and Lee Novak.

“I was saying to my dad, that it’s very different coming into a changing room full of kids to now where there are people 10 years my senior,” he added.

“I don’t want to say ‘old men’ but you can see their experience and it’s good. They speak to me and it’s good to learn from their words of wisdom.

“You can see in the games that they know their jobs.

“I know it’s not easy to have a long career so to be getting as far as they have is a good achievement.

“I’m sure they still want to achieve more and that’s what keeps them going and keeps them hungry.

“You need to have the right mentality to get that far and they are good examples for someone like me to learn from.”

Hosannah went close to his first City goal in midweek as he frequently looked to get forward.

He was a driving force in the second-half push for an equaliser, linking well with Anthony O’Connor down the right.

Clarke believes the Bantams have got an exciting talent on their hands.

He said: “Bryce is a really nice kid, a quiet lad and he’s been brilliant in the few games he’s played. More of the same please.

“He’s so quick so he does carry the ball really well. He’s hard to catch when he breaks the line in midfield.

“When he does go forward, he has the quality to slip by people and it certainly does create space for other players as well.”

With Stuart McCall aiming to stick with the wing-back system on a more regular basis, it should suit Hosannah’s attacking play.

Clarke added: “We work on stuff to get him that space and make him a good player. The manager does that for him.

“The way Ant got forward and combined with Bryce, the way Bryce combined with myself, it’s not just a case of ‘we’ve got a good player here, let’s go off the cuff’.

“We do work on stuff and it’s nice when it comes off.

“Having this run of Saturday, Tuesday games will be difficult for Bryce because he’s not really had first-team football before. But he’s a fit boy and a really good player and it’s great to have him in the building.”