IT was the briefest of appearances, but Michael Proctor's eight minutes against Scunthorpe could well be his last in a City shirt.

Proctor, who has been idolised by the City faithful this season, hobbled from the fray with a hamstring injury after he hit the deck from a challenge by Scunthorpe defender Mark Jackson.

And with his loan deal now coming to an end, the leading goal-scorer will head back to Sunderland in a bid to secure his long-term future on Wearside.

Proctor has been a revelation during his season-long sabbatical at Bootham Crescent, topping the goal-scoring charts at the club with 14 strikes during a fruitful partnership with Lee Nogan.

However, despite many supporters hoping the hit-man would make the move permanent in the summer, Proctor, who has never relinquished his desire to perform in the Premiership with his home town club, is now looking to convince Peter Reid to offer him a new contract.

Proctor is out of contract at the Stadium of Light in the summer, but Sunderland have shown they are unwilling to just let him leave the club - with a number of suitors this season put off attempting to sign him by the fee currently on his head.

Whether this will mean the club want him to stay or not, it is unsure although Proctor will soon find out.

"I will have to sit down with Peter Reid and the people at Sunderland in the next few weeks and discuss which options are open to me," he said. "I would love to stay at Sunderland. It is my home town club and I'd love to give it a real good go, but we will have wait and see."

But despite his future hopes, Proctor, who will find no end of clubs after his services should he be knocked back by Sunderland, will be sad to leave City.

"It has been a good year for me and I have enjoyed it at York," he added. "There have been a lot of difficulties but I think they have brought everyone together and since then things have gone well.

"It is a shame to finish like things they did, but my hamstring just went."

Another player contemplating his future is the experienced right-back Darren Edmondson.

The 31-year-old defender is out of contract in the summer, but he hopes to sit down with new City chairman John Batchelor in the next fortnight to thrash out a new deal.

"I'm effectively a free transfer now," he said. "We are going to go in and keep training for the next couple of weeks so hopefully we will sit down then and see what offer is on the table.

Updated: 09:16 Monday, April 22, 2002