Barry Conlon should find out in the next 24 hours if he is still in City’s plans for the new year.

The Irishman’s short-term deal, signed in the summer, has only a fortnight to run and he is sweating on a new contract.

Boss Stuart McCall is giving nothing away before he sits down with Conlon and his agent to thrash out the striker’s future.

But Conlon is hoping that it will be good news.

He said: “The gaffer hasn’t told me anything yet but I didn’t expect him to. We said all along that we would leave it to this time of the year before I went to see him.

“I’ll know more at the end of the week but I really hope there is something for me here. Since I’ve been playing, I’ve been quite happy with my form this season and scoring a few goals here and there.

“I’ve been coming off the bench and doing my bit and I want to continue to be part of the team. Obviously that’s down to what the manager decides but I’m keeping my fingers crossed.”

Conlon has netted seven times so far despite being used as a substitute as often as starting – ten of his 21 appearances have been second-half cameos.

He has already equalled his haul for the whole of his first season, after being challenged by McCall to score more.

Conlon’s decisive penalty in last month’s come-from-behind win over Chesterfield was the 100th league goal of his career.

Youngster Leon Osborne’s contract also expires on New Year’s Eve.

The teenage winger has earned rave reviews from the manager in training and reserve games but struggled in his two first-team starts against MK Dons and Rotherham.

McCall, though, may feel he is worth persisting with as cover during the crunch second half of the campaign.