Dean Windass insists he can keep playing for another three years.

City's top scorer turns 36 before the end of the season. But he has no plans to hang up his boots when his current Valley Parade deal runs out in June 2006.

Windass said: "You look at Stuart McCall and people like Teddy Sheringham going on to 39 and 40 and I want to be the same. I don't see why not - I feel like I'm an 18-year-old rather than 35.

"When Colin Todd offered me another contract he said I didn't want to be stopping there. And he's right because I feel fitter than ever - I know I can go on another couple of seasons after that.

"People think that because you get to 35 you've got to think about quitting. That's a load of rubbish.

"Of course there will be times when you wake up in the morning and struggle. But every footballer feels that."

Windass, who notched his 14th goal of the season against Torquay, is enjoying his most prolific spell for the club. And he believes there is plenty more left in the tank.

"You look after yourself more the older you get because you want to keep playing on.

"Colin sometimes has a go at me for going to the gym in the evening and doing extra work on the treadmill. I also go out for runs with my wife.

"I will be the oldest in the changing room when Wayne Jacobs leaves, and the young lads like Steve Schumacher and Ben Muirhead call me grandad and say I'm living the dream. But that's what keeps me young.

"The lads will tell you that I'm still one of the fittest, I'm always at the front when we go running in pre-season. I'll have three weeks off in the summer and then go bang at it again.

"I love the game and love being around the lads. You can't describe the feeling when you go into work every day and they are laughing and joking."

Windass, like David Wetherall, is a vital part of City's play-off ambitions. They have won only one of the six games he has not started this term.

He added: "Hopefully this year my experience and goals will get us into the play-offs. I'm putting pressure on myself and I want that kind of responsibility.

"I want to get back up and play at the highest level I can again. And if we can get promoted, it makes you even more determined to come back next season even fitter."