Hamilton hero Brian Easton says he hopes his time as a player at New Douglas Park isn’t over yet as both parties enter contract extension talks.
The 34-year-old is already embarking upon the next stage of his career as a youth coach at Accies but has remained a key part of head coach Stuart Taylor’s senior side.
He was subbed on during Friday final match of the season with Inverness after 30 minutes, with his team already 4-0 down in the Championship clash.
No more goals were conceded as the former Burnley defender brought stability and leadership to a fragile defence on the night.
His current contract expires before next season begins and he will turn 35 during that campaign. But there’s no end in sight for the experienced defender.
Easton said: “Hopefully it will all be sorted soon. I will be sitting down with the chairman to get that sorted as this is where I want to be. Hopefully we are able to do that.
“Then I will be able to get my mind on getting back ready for playing next term. There were no thoughts about the Inverness game being my last game, no way.
“I speak quite a lot about it, I think I will be one of these guys who just keeps going until the legs fall off! I love this game and I love it at this club.
“I love the boys and I want to be doing this for as long as possible. So there’s no way that I will be hanging up my boots just yet.”
After coming through the club’s famous youth academy system, Easton made his Accies debut in 2006, before sealing a big move south to Burnley in 2009.
He returned briefly on loan a year later and his permanent move back wasn’t for another nine years, following a stint at St Johnstone where he won the Scottish Cup. He now sits six appearances shy of 200 Accies outings.
This term at Hamilton has been difficult, finishing sixth following their first term back in the second tier after Premiership relegation.
A late push for the promotion play-offs was made and Easton says there is potential in Taylor’s squad to kick on next term.
He said: “This season has been disappointing as we haven’t got to where we want to be. But we have had a change of manager and there’s a new way of playing.
“We are trying to build an identity and we have been getting that more and more as this season has gone on. You could see players beginning to get better.
“So hopefully we can look at this being a building season and we can kick on from next term.”
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