Steve O’Leary’s wish for 2010 is simple: I want a better year than the last one.

Things are finally looking up for the crocked midfielder, who has been out of the picture with City since August after breaking a small bone in his toe.

The physio drove me up to the training ground because I’d almost forgotten where it was!

Steve O'Leary

The physio drove me up to the training ground because I’d almost forgotten where it was!

Steve O'Leary

The physio drove me up to the training ground because I’d almost forgotten where it was!

Steve O'Leary

The physio drove me up to the training ground because I’d almost forgotten where it was!

Steve O'Leary

The physio drove me up to the training ground because I’d almost forgotten where it was!

Steve O'Leary

The physio drove me up to the training ground because I’d almost forgotten where it was!

Steve O'Leary

The physio drove me up to the training ground because I’d almost forgotten where it was!

Steve O'Leary

The physio drove me up to the training ground because I’d almost forgotten where it was!

Steve O'Leary

O’Leary is back at Apperley Bridge with the rest of the squad this week, although he is limited to running on his own.

But he hopes to be joining in properly in a fortnight – in time to persuade Stuart McCall to offer him a new contract.

O’Leary said: “I got the all clear from the specialist and did my first 15 minutes of running on Monday just to get my legs going.

“Obviously it’s going to be sore because I haven’t moved the toe for six weeks. But it’s great to be free to run again.

“The physio drove me up to the training ground because I’d almost forgotten where it was! But being in the same place as the other lads again gave me a bit of a buzz.”

His team-mates have seen little of O’Leary, whose contribution has been limited to one pre-season friendly and an impressive 90 minutes against Port Vale in the opening home game.

But he had played through the pain that day after suffering the injury in training.

The bone under the joint was too small to operate on so he was advised to rest up before running on it again a couple of weeks later.

But the injury had been misdiagnosed and O’Leary found himself back to square one. A second specialist put him in a padded boot for another month of complete rest.

O’Leary has somehow managed to stay sane throughout.

He admitted: “It’s been quite hard but I’ve tried to stay as positive as I can and just focus on when I’m hoping to be back.

“I’ve been down before with other things, like when you’re not in the team, but as I’ve got older, I’ve realised that feeling like that only affects yourself.

“You’re the only one who can make a difference. You’ve got to stay in a positive frame of mind and work really hard to try to come back.

“I’m not going to try and steam back into anything but I’m hoping that in two weeks I’ll be back in training with the lads.

“But I was so close the last time then had a relapse so I’m not getting carried away. I’ll just take it day by day.”

O’Leary’s future with City is up in the air. The short-term deal he signed on the eve of the season runs out on January 3.

He said: “By the time I’m back, I’ve probably only got a week. But I’m sure we will discuss that at some time.

“For now it’s about getting fit. There’s no point in talking about anything when I’m just running round the training ground and having no impact on what’s going on.”

Omar Daley stepped up his own comeback with an hour’s action in yesterday’s private friendly at Hull.

Boss Stuart McCall said: “The pleasing thing was that Omar got stronger the longer he played.”

City were beaten 3-1. Luke Sharry put them in front on 75 minutes before Hull scored three in a four-minute period after a run of substitutions.

City’s team included three overseas trialists – two from Sweden recommended by former Bantam Rob Steiner and a Serbian.