GRAHAM Alexander will continue to keep a close eye on the free-agent market.

The City boss remains “observant” about the players still available during the club’s on-going injury concerns.

Jamie Walker and Lewis Richards hope to be involved at Harrogate this weekend but a lengthy casualty list hampers selection options.

Neill Byrne and Aden Baldwin could be training again next week but Wigan loanee Joe Adams is seeing another specialist about his knee injury.

Ciaran Kelly faces at least a couple of months away after his ankle surgery on Tuesday.

Antoni Sarcevic is progressing but is still some time off a return and City have not put a date on when they hope to have long-term absentee Callum Johnson in contention.

Alexander will track players without a club in the meantime in case of the risk of picking up further injuries.

He said: “Even if we bring players back, I think we need to be aware of who’s available and what condition they are in.

“Because if anything happened to further players, we’d be in a difficult situation.

"We will keep those lines of observation open and be ready to act if needed.

"We put some feelers out last week and spoke to a couple of people.

“But we are just going to wait to see where Aden and Byrne are out and when they join back into training. It’s not just that position, but another where we feel we are a little bit light on.

"With Joe and Sarce missing, that’s where we’re in a similar position. We’re just being observant and making sure we are ready if we do have to make a move.”