Kilmarnock’s veteran defender Alex Bruce is determined to get every game he can out of his career.
The 35-year-old scored his first goal for Killie since signing from Wigan in January in the 2-2 draw against Hibernian at Easter Road on Saturday.
The man of many clubs including Birmingham, Ipswich and Hull, is contracted to the Rugby Park outfit until the end of the season but insists the fear of retirement will drive him on to continue playing.
Ahead of the visit of bottom side St Johnstone in the Ladbrokes Premiership on Wednesday night, he said: “When the enthusiasm stops in general I’ll know it’s time to hang the boots up. The enthusiasm is still there.
“I still get a buzz with playing and said that when I first came here that I want to play games and when you get little moments like that on Saturday, it makes it all worthwhile.
“I’ve been quite pleased with every time I have played. We’ve won a lot of games when I’ve been in a team and kept quite a lot of clean sheets.
“The real low point was obviously getting sent off against Motherwell which was disappointing.
“Some would say it was a bit dubious so that was the only blip really but apart from that, I’ve enjoyed playing and enjoyed contribution to the team.
“I want to play as long as I can. I speak to players who’ve come out of the game and they say as long as you feel fit, keep playing because when you do hang the boots up and you’re in the real world it comes as hammer blow to professional footballers. I think everybody knows that.
“So, as long as the legs and everything keeps going on, I’ll try and play as long as I can.”
Bruce admits there has been no discussions with the Ayrshire club about a possible new deal but he will continue to appreciate his football in the meantime.
He said: “We will see what happens. It’s obviously up to the manager and powers that be but I will just take each game as it comes and enjoy it.
“That’s all I can do.”
