Nicky Law has challenged Danny Cadamarteri to rekindle the exciting form that made him an instant star for Everton.

The Bradford-born striker has been plagued by tendinitis in his knee which has kept him out for a large chunk of the season.

Cadamarteri (pictured) also has to be careful not to train too often or he runs the risk of the injury flaring up.

He last started a game on March 1 but has not played a full 90 minutes since Reading on October 29.

The former England under-21 international looked sharp after coming on as a late substitute against Millwall and Law is hoping a good run in the final weeks could be the springboard for a big 2003-2004 campaign.

Law said: "We have to manage the situation carefully with Danny and take it day by day because it is a nasty injury. But I thought he was very good when he came on in the last match, especially considering it was his first game for a while.

"He's had a stop-start time for us this year but hopefully we can get him going again. Next year will be a big one for him, if he can stay injury free.

"He seems to have been around quite a long time but he's still only 23 and he's got it all in front of him. What he has to do is recreate and reproduce his form of a few years ago when he burst on to the scene."

Cadamarteri, who joined City 14 months ago, has scored only one goal this season and that was back in September against Wrexham in the first round of the Worthington Cup. It is virtually a year since his last effort in the league at Walsall and he is yet to open his account at Valley Parade.

Since his brief run-out against Reading, Cadamarteri has come through two reserve games including Sunderland on Monday. And providing he suffers no ill-effects, he should be involved for the Easter programme.

Physio Steve Redmond said: "As we're nearing the end of the season, we're trying to up things a bit and Danny is looking almost back to full fitness.

"He had a bit of a setback for two or three weeks after a fell ill. That took everything out of his system and when he tried to step up the training afterwards he felt a bit of pain in the knee.

"But that has settled down nicely and he seems to be doing very well. He is looking sharp again and we're hoping that there won't be any more problems."