As far as Mark Hughes is concerned, his devout hope is that if one or two do chip in before the end of the campaign, they will carry a fair bit of weight in the context of 2022-23.

Two mainstays in Matty Platt and Brad Halliday, alongside the likes of Romoney Crichlow and Liam Ridehalgh and January arrival Sam Stubbs, have yet to find the net.

Mark Hughes, who saw two players in midfielder Alex Gilliead and winger/no.10 Jamie Walker contribute goals alongside prolific top-scorer Andy Cook in last weekend's 3-2 win over Grimsby, said: "We pull a few of the lads' legs and we can't do that with Gilly now and he is off (the hook) to a certain extent.

"I think the obvious one is the lads at the back who have not got off the mark and they are as frustrated as anyone and maybe there's an opportunity over the (Easter) weekend."

Ahead of welcoming Sutton on Bank Holiday Monday, City face a long trek to relegation-threatened Crawley - whose season has certainly not panned in the way that the club envisaged back in the summer.

Hughes continued: "With the season they have had, there will be a lot of disappointment for them as there was a lot of enthusiasm for what they were going to do this year.

"We were in the same training complex in pre-season and there was a lot of energy around their group along with ourselves.

"It's been a better season for us clearly, so there will be disappointments when they look back on this season."

Crawley v Bradford City: Better late than never as Mark Hughes challenges his defenders