Doncaster defender Wood wants to play past 40
Veteran Doncaster Rovers defender Richard Wood has said he is hopeful of playing on next season.The 39-year-old, who made his senior debut for Sheffield Wednesday in April 2003, made his first start since August in Saturday's 1-1 draw at Crewe after returning from a long-term ankle injury.The Rovers captain is out of contract with the League Two side this summer and turns 40 in July."I want to carry on if I can and my body permits me," he told BBC Radio Sheffield."I want to see how I get on over the next couple of months and play as many games as I can. Hopefully I can impress the manager and stay in the team."If I can play on then brilliant. I want to play on into my forties."People are always telling me you're a long time retired so I am trying my best to stay on the pitch."He is the fifth-oldest player to have made an appearance in the top four leagues this season behind Gillingham goalkeeper Glenn Morris, 41, MK Dons defender Dean Lewington, 40, and West Ham goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski and Leyton Orient midfielder Darren Pratley, both 39.
Wood is looking to win the fifth promotion of his career this season, 20 years on from his first when he helped the Owls beat Hartlepool in the League One play-off final in 2005.He spent nine years with Rotherham and helped them get promoted to the Championship three times before joining Rovers in the summer of 2023.Grant McCann's side are fifth in League One with nine games to play, two points behind third-placed AFC Wimbledon with a game in hand.After recovering from an ankle injury that at one point looked like it could force him to retire, Wood believes his return to the team could have come at the perfect time."My two years here I had an injury with my calf so I didn't play as many games as I wanted to and then same this year," he added."Now I'm back I want to do everything I can to help us get promoted. It is tight but maybe I've come back at a good time where my experience might help."It's all to play for with just a few games to go. We've definitely got a squad capable of doing it."He added: "All footballers want to win and get promoted."I've got my two boys and they're obsessed with football and love what I have done in my career but I want to just do it one more time to look back on my career in a nice way."
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