Peter Taylor believes City’s relegation rivals Hereford will not lose any points for fielding an unregistered player.

Hereford, who currently sit one place below the Bantams, are facing a Football League charge after picking Rob Purdie against Torquay last week. Purdie had been signed after the deadline.

Ironically, the home side are also in the dock for playing on-loan Shrewsbury striker Jake Robinson in a breach of the regulations.

A clutch of clubs around the bottom of League Two will be monitoring the situation closely.

City were not allowed to use Scott Dobie against Lincoln because the paperwork was completed too late. Because his loan move from St Johnstone was classed as an international transfer, the deal had to go through by noon the day before.

Taylor said: “It was a frustration that we couldn’t play him against Lincoln, especially as the night turned out, but we checked everything out and it just couldn’t be done in time.

“The rules are there and they shouldn’t be broken. There’s no way you can bend them for certain clubs and not others.

“In that respect, if there are a couple of clubs that have then ignored them it becomes a very dangerous situation. It will be interesting to see what happens.

“I expect they will probably get a heavy fine but I don’t think there will be anything more.”

Hereford have requested a personal hearing with the league within the next fortnight.

Midfielder Purdie has been with them since October on loan from Oldham.

He was released by the League One side to join Hereford on a permanent basis. But, as a free agent, his signing had to be done by midday last Monday to face Torquay the following night and it only went through that afternoon.

Hereford chairman David Keyte said: “Rob Purdie had come on for us as a substitute at Sheffield Wednesday the previous Saturday.

“We were clearly not seeking to gain an advantage here by bringing in a new player to make an improvement to our side.”

Hereford won the game 3-1 at Plainmoor but the league are unlikely to order it to be replayed.

Meanwhile, Steve Williams has safely negotiated his return to City training.

Taylor added: “He trained very well and will be in contention for Saturday.”