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He may be one of Wanderers' elder statesmen, but Emile Heskey is loving being part of a 73-year-old forward line with fellow veteran Eidur Gudjohnsen.
Dubbed the OAPs by boss Neil Lennon recently, the pairing have rolled back the years since joining the Whites on short-term deals.
Both have expressed a desire to keep on playing into next season and Lennon has confirmed the pair will be offered new deals, telling Sky Sports yesterday: "We will be offering new contracts to Heskey and Gudjohnsen because they've made a massive contribution.
"If we didn’t feel they had then we’d tell them but they’ve been immense, and not just on the field."
It is news that will be music to the ears of his former Leicester team-mate who has played a huge role since getting the call from Lennon to return to English football after a spell in Australia.
While nothing has been signed as yet, it is unlikely either Heskey or Gudjohnsen will pass up the chance to play on for another season.
And Heskey will be just as delighted as his manager if he is lining up alongside Gudjohnsen again at the start of the 2015-16 Championship campaign.
He told the club's programme: "It's been good to play with Eidur.
"Not many strike partnerships have got a combined age of 73.
"It is nice though and he has got immense ability which he showed in his pass for my goal against Blackburn earlier in the season – not many players would have seen that pass.
"He is showing every week on the pitch, as well as day in, day out in training, that he's a massive asset to the team.
"There were a few eyebrows raised when we both joined the club but Eidur is a quality player.
"He's showing that now – not just for us but Iceland as well.
"We've been linking up well and I'm glad that I could return the favour ans set up his goal against Cardiff.
"Hopefully there's some more legs left in the partnership yet."
Ex-England striker Heskey turned 37 in January but admits he is loving his football as much as ever since joining the Whites.
And while he concedes the legs aren't as young these days, he believes there is life in them yet.
Heskey says he will not decide on his future until after the final two matches against Bournemouth and Birmingham.
But at present, there are no plans to hang up the boots famously washed by Paddy McGuiness after his debut goal against Blackburn on Boxing Day forced the Bolton comedian to keep a promise he made on Twitter.
Heskey added: "The way I'm feeling right now, I think I definitely could carry on and do a job next season.
"But we'll have to see if my body agrees.
"I feel great but it's not something we'll look at until the end of the season.
"At the end of the day, it's down to the club and the management and then obviously how I feel come May.
"We'll just have to see what happens.
"For me at my age, it's not the games that are the problem but the recovery.
"Back-to-back games is tough, making sure that you can recover in time for the second game.
"I do try and do similar stuff to what I did earlier in my career but it just isn't possible and you notice it as you get older.
"You then see the young lads we have at the club like Zach, Josh and Tom who can run three miles the day after a match.
"It's hard not being able to do that anymore but I'm really enjoying being out there playing with them."
Source
Dubbed the OAPs by boss Neil Lennon recently, the pairing have rolled back the years since joining the Whites on short-term deals.
Both have expressed a desire to keep on playing into next season and Lennon has confirmed the pair will be offered new deals, telling Sky Sports yesterday: "We will be offering new contracts to Heskey and Gudjohnsen because they've made a massive contribution.
"If we didn’t feel they had then we’d tell them but they’ve been immense, and not just on the field."
It is news that will be music to the ears of his former Leicester team-mate who has played a huge role since getting the call from Lennon to return to English football after a spell in Australia.
While nothing has been signed as yet, it is unlikely either Heskey or Gudjohnsen will pass up the chance to play on for another season.
And Heskey will be just as delighted as his manager if he is lining up alongside Gudjohnsen again at the start of the 2015-16 Championship campaign.
He told the club's programme: "It's been good to play with Eidur.
"Not many strike partnerships have got a combined age of 73.
"It is nice though and he has got immense ability which he showed in his pass for my goal against Blackburn earlier in the season – not many players would have seen that pass.
"He is showing every week on the pitch, as well as day in, day out in training, that he's a massive asset to the team.
"There were a few eyebrows raised when we both joined the club but Eidur is a quality player.
"He's showing that now – not just for us but Iceland as well.
"We've been linking up well and I'm glad that I could return the favour ans set up his goal against Cardiff.
"Hopefully there's some more legs left in the partnership yet."
Ex-England striker Heskey turned 37 in January but admits he is loving his football as much as ever since joining the Whites.
And while he concedes the legs aren't as young these days, he believes there is life in them yet.
Heskey says he will not decide on his future until after the final two matches against Bournemouth and Birmingham.
But at present, there are no plans to hang up the boots famously washed by Paddy McGuiness after his debut goal against Blackburn on Boxing Day forced the Bolton comedian to keep a promise he made on Twitter.
Heskey added: "The way I'm feeling right now, I think I definitely could carry on and do a job next season.
"But we'll have to see if my body agrees.
"I feel great but it's not something we'll look at until the end of the season.
"At the end of the day, it's down to the club and the management and then obviously how I feel come May.
"We'll just have to see what happens.
"For me at my age, it's not the games that are the problem but the recovery.
"Back-to-back games is tough, making sure that you can recover in time for the second game.
"I do try and do similar stuff to what I did earlier in my career but it just isn't possible and you notice it as you get older.
"You then see the young lads we have at the club like Zach, Josh and Tom who can run three miles the day after a match.
"It's hard not being able to do that anymore but I'm really enjoying being out there playing with them."
Source