"I would love to keep playing," says evergreen midfielder.
James Coppinger has said that he is far from resting on his laurels once he achieves the club record appearance mark of 469 games for Rovers on Saturday.Coppinger, aged 34, signed for Rovers in the summer of 2004 and has become a regular under many different managers and a firm fan’s favourite.
“I don’t want to say 469 and that’s me finished, no way!” Coppinger declared.
“As long as the manager understands what I’m trying to do, I would love to keep playing for this club.
“You want to be successful and you want to win games.”
Coppinger, who has been deployed as part of a midfield triumvirate recently, praised the arrival of new Rovers manager Darren Ferguson by saying that the Scot keeps players on their toes with his tactical insights.
“I think that’s what you need, especially in football these days,” Coppinger continued.
“It’s important that if things aren’t working you can change things, there’s been a lot of hard work on the training pitch and there’ll be a lot more to come.
“I played in a midfield three when we first got into the Championship under Sean O’Driscoll, there was me, Brian Stock and Richie Wellens so I’m familiar with the role and as I’m not getting any younger it helps, I can get on the ball and use my movement to my advantage.”
Rovers, who host Stalybridge Celtic of the Conference North in the first round of this season’s FA Cup, were beaten twice in the league by the Lancastrians just two years prior to Coppinger’s arrival in South Yorkshire. However the Teessider is looking to rekindle the spark that has seen the pair tread very different paths since.
“I didn’t know that at all!” Coppinger admitted.
“When I first came to the club it was on the back of two promotions.
“It had a feel good factor about it which we want again!”
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