Gutted James Hanson believes injury has robbed him of a 20-goal debut season as a pro.

The lanky hitman tops City’s scoring stakes with 13 – an impressive first haul after making the leap from the third tier of non-league football.

But Hanson was confident of doubling his initial ten-goal target until his hamstring went against Bournemouth on Easter Saturday, ruling him out of City’s last four outings.

He said: “It’s very frustrating because I wanted to keep playing to get the goal tally up.

“Injuries happen, of course, and it’s only a couple of weeks on the sidelines, but I felt bang on form before that.

“I’d scored five goals in eight games, including the two against Dagenham, and really felt I could end the season on a good note.

“I was aiming for 20 goals and with eight games to go, there were enough left for me to get there.

“Unfortunately it’s not to be but hopefully I’ll be back to play again and I can still score one or two more.”

Hanson will be one of the top contenders to be named City’s player of the year on Tuesday.

But his dramatic rise from the UniBond League has brought inevitable attention from elsewhere. A Championship club were keeping tabs on him during the January transfer window and there have been other internet rumours.

But the striker, who has another year on his Valley Parade contract, is unconcerned with any speculation.

He said: “I don’t know if there is any interest but I’m not too bothered. It’s flattering if people are talking about you but I’ll just keep trying to do my best for Bradford.

“I love it here, it’s just round the corner for me and everything’s good.”