James Gray wants to keep Ian Gayle at Clarence Park for the remainder of the 2014/15 season.

The Dagenham and Redbridge defender’s loan was extended by a month ahead of Saturday’s 1-0 loss at Bromley but St Albans City’s joint manager insisted that he wants him for longer.

“We managed to keep him for another month but we’re going to try to [get him for the rest] of the season,” said Gray.

“He’s come in and done really well and it’s no coincidence that since he’s been here, we’ve started keeping clean sheets.”

Luton Town loanee Charlie Smith, who joined the Saints at the same time as Gayle, has returned to the Hatters but could be back for the Boxing Day derby with Hemel Hempstead at Clarence Park.

“We’re trying to sort [his loan] out. We ran out of time this week,” added Gray.

“He was on a youth loan, but it has finished. We tried to speak to Luton on Friday but they had a development game [on Saturday] and they wanted to have him. We’ll try to re-engage this week. He did well in the month he was with us and hopefully we can renegotiate and get him in for the Boxing Day game.”

• Joel Nouble has returned to Dagenham and Redbridge, only to be loaned out again, this time to Ryman North side Thurrock. Nouble made seven appearance for the Saints, including two starts, and scored one goal.