CITY will step up their bid to swell numbers in the transfer window after three exits this week.

Haris Vuckic and Marc McNulty have followed Nathan Clarke out the door.

Vuckic played the final game of his loan at Northampton – and was subbed at half-time after an ineffective display.

McNulty was on the bench for Sheffield United at Bury after Blades boss Chris Wilder recalled him on Sunday night – a move Stuart McCall admitted that he “didn’t see coming”.

McCall, who had been planning to start the Scot yesterday, said: “We do need to give the rest of the squad a bit of a lift and get a couple of faces in.

“But obviously they’ve got to improve on what we’ve got.

“I don’t know if anything will happen before Saturday. We need to sort out Josh (Cullen’s loan) first but I’ll leave that up to the owners.

“I’m sure we’ll have meeting after meeting this week.”

Both Edin Rahic and Stefan Rupp were at the Sixfields Stadium to see City stay fifth with a first league win since November.

City are among a few League One clubs keeping an eye on Birmingham striker Alex Jones, who scored nine goals for Port Vale before his half-season loan finished yesterday.

Vale were hopeful of extending his stay but the 22-year-old tweeted a goodbye message after their game at Oldham wishing the club the best of luck for the remainder of the season.

But in City’s ongoing striker hunt, McCall did play down a link with Fleetwood’s David Ball.