Lee Johnson has revealed Aiden McGeady is determined to play on next season - and wants to do it at Hibernian.
The former Celtic and Republic of Ireland winger was ruled out for the remainder of the current campaign with a serious hamstring injury that required surgery.
With his contract at Easter Road expiring in the summer, that put doubts on his future and raised question marks over whether he would hang up his boots.
The ex-Sunderland, Everton and Spartak Moscow attacker turned 37 on Tuesday and spoke openly in January of considering retiring when faced with a recurring knee problem earlier this term.
However, after holding talks, and while acknowledging the number one goal is nursing the veteran back to fitness, Johnson has reported McGeady has pledged to prolong his career.
He said: “We’ve had a brief conversation but the main focus for us and for him is getting fit.
“We have to do that anyway and then there has to be a decision made on the back of that. It’s the right thing to do to make sure we see that process through.
“That could be anywhere from 12 weeks to 24 weeks depending on how he reacts to the surgery and how his rehab goes, and the age factor comes into it.
“But the one thing I do know and I can publicly state is he’s very, very keen to continue to play, and he’s very keen to continue to play for Hibs.
“Especially with a player that age, there’s a lot of things to consider for him and for us.
“But the update is that he does want to play on.”
Hibs, meanwhile, continue to run the rule over trialist goalkeeper Maksymilian Boruc - the cousin of former Celtic favourite Artur.
Boruc currently turns out for Slask Wroclaw, having had spells at Stoke City and West Brom, but the 20-year-old has been training with the Easter Road side for the last fortnight.
Johnson said: “He’s still here. He was always going to be here for a couple of weeks, and he’s done alright to be honest.
“He’s a good size, he’s got a good frame, he’s decent with his feet. Stuart Garden, the goalkeeping coach, works closely with him.
“It wasn’t something we were necessarily desperately chasing, we’ve got a good young goalkeeper in Murray Johnson and a couple of younger ones as well who we think are very good.
“The thing is to keep Marsh [David Marshall] ticking over, keep him fit, keep him flying, and make sure we give all of our young goalkeepers every opportunity to be the succession plan for him.”