Bradford City v Crawley Town: Why fans will have a closer eye than usual on Saturday's team-sheet as Graham Alexander outlines transfer thinking

City’s manager has long said his focus is on thinning out the numbers but he is still looking to bring new faces in, with the emphasis on permanent signings.

His first addition was recalling Jake Young from a loan at Swindon Town which brought 16 goals.

Bradford went down this road before four years ago, when Eoin Doyle scored 23 in 22 games on loan at Swindon. He was recalled mid-season but sold back five scoreless January matches later.

In this case, League One interest is more significant but will be killed as soon as Young pulls on a Bradford shirt again. That may not be on Saturday.

"We're going to assess him because he's had a little niggle for a few games but he's played all the 90 minutes,” said Alexander.

"I think Ryan (Sparks, the chief executive) has had a couple of enquiries, nothing concrete.

"We're not looking to sell anybody like that, we want him to help us win games, score goals, bring more competition, but every player in the Football League is available at some price."

Alexander would like new faces to arrive permanently.

"If you have an ambition as a club the player need to buy into that and if the ambition is to play at a higher level, they're not going to be part of it," he explained.

"But the loan market is certainly one we can get good players through – JT (Norwich City loanee Jonathan Tomkinson)'s a fine example of that – so we'll see how January progresses"

Chisom Afoka's loan from Aston Villa has ended it would be no surprise if talks with West Bromwich Albion over Rayan Tulloch produce the same outcome.

Young apart, Alexander selects from the same squad.