‘I’ll play to 40’: Rejuvenated Bristol Rovers star thanks ‘brilliant’ Joey Barton as he laments Celtic and Premier League regrets

Rejuvenated Bristol Rovers winger Scott Sinclair has told fans he's happy to play until he's 40 years old as he looked back at his rollercoaster career.

The 33-year-old spoke to the Daily Mail about returning to his home town after hitting the highs of Swansea, Manchester City and Celtic glory, without taking time to enjoy them.

Sinclair broke onto the scene as a promising Bristol Rovers youth academy product in 2004 when he made his debut for The Pirates. After just two appearances the forward was snapped up by Chelsea and would play for 13 clubs in 17 years before ending up back at Rovers last year.

Sinclair, who signed a contract extension to stay at the club until the end of next season in January, said: "I'm in good shape and I feel like I can play to 40.

"I'll take my coaching qualifications but I'm still enjoying my football and the gaffer is brilliant. That's why I signed longer term. Players take to him. He wants us looking up, aiming towards the Championship.

"And that feeling when you come in with three points is still the same. You can't get that anywhere else whether it's in the Champions League or League One. I'm enjoying the journey and I'll keep going. I'll know when it's time to stop."

Despite his claim to be ageing, Sinclair has been a livewire for Rovers this term and has featured in every League One game since October, registering five goals and three assists in 23 appearences.

In the tell-all interview, Sinclair looked back at his career and admitted he didn't take time to appreciate how good he had it when playing in the Premier League for Swansea - their top-flight status earnt thanks to a play-off final hat-trick from the Bath-born star.

Regretting not pausing to take it all in, Sinclair said he'd tell his younger self: "I'd say, 'slow down a little bit'.

"It goes too quick because you're young and in the moment, always striving for more. You want to be further ahead. You want to play higher up. You want to play week in, week out. To be at the top, to stay at the top. You want more trophies. Always pushing. Never satisfied.

"When you're older, you look back and you're telling the young players how it was in your day and thinking, 'what a time that was, I should've enjoyed it a bit more' so I'd say, 'relax and enjoy the moment and don't be rushing off to where you think you want to be'."