City chief Phil Parkinson believes Craig Fagan will be firing on all cylinders again after being given a breather against Rochdale.

The striker, who had a tight groin, has played two months of solid football after a year out of action.

Parkinson said: “The break will have done Fages the world of good. It’s testament to him (how much he has played).

“Go back to when I first put him on at Crawley and he’d only trained with us for one proper session.

“He’s really getting there now and sometimes, when you’ve had that run of games, you do need to be taken out of the firing line.

“As it happens, he had that little injury anyway which enabled us to do that and the other lads came in and did really well.”

Fagan and James Hanson could replace Ross Hannah and Jamie Devitt up front but Parkinson felt the FA Cup starters did a good job.

He said: “Dev had a lot of opportunities to slide Ross in but it didn’t quite come off. Another couple of inches either way and he could have been clean through on goal.

“With Hanson and Nahki Wells coming on, the story became our subs having more impact than theirs.

“But it’s vital we have that threat from the bench. With Nahki’s goal and ‘Roscoe’ getting a couple of games under his belt, it gives us those options.”

The prospect of another white-rose battle against Rotherham should hold no fears. City’s only defeat in the previous four was at Leeds.

“We’ve enjoyed the Yorkshire derbies so far this season and this is another one we’re looking forward to,” said Parkinson.