CLAYTON Donaldson intends to carry on playing next season - but admits it came as a shock that it won’t be at City.

The veteran striker was among nine players jettisoned last week. Only four of those out-of-contract this summer have been offered new deals – keeper Sam Hornby, Matty Foulds, Kian Scales and Jorge Sikora.

Donaldson made 41 appearances last season, 25 of them starts, and scored seven times – his last coming at Stevenage on Easter Monday.

He was not expecting to be shown the door by his hometown club as part of the clear-out that followed the sacking of joint bosses Mark Trueman and Conor Sellars.

“I thought I’d probably done enough to get another year,” said Donaldson. “It came as a bit of a shock, to be honest.

“But it’s most likely it had something to do with the management change. That probably didn’t help in my favour.

“The timing of all that wasn’t good but it was still a shock.

“But that’s football. You never know what’s round the corner.

“I’ve been involved in the game for so many years and you’re never surprised. You can’t be content and comfortable about things because it can always change so quickly.

“Life goes on but I’m still looking to carry on playing. That’s the next step now.”

City’s management duo paid the price for a terrible end to the campaign that saw them plummet out of play-off contention after picking up only one point from the last seven games.

Donaldson was mystified with how the season fell apart during the run-in – but still feels that Trueman and Sellars had earned another crack at it.

He added: “I thought we were in with a real chance after we beat Grimsby at home. But we lost the next game and I don’t think, as a team, we recovered well after a defeat.

“It deflated us massively and the confidence went. You could see everyone thinking, ‘we’ve blown it’ and we couldn’t get ourselves going again for whatever reason.

“That bit of luck we got in the initial period with the new managers faded away.

“The results weren’t great at the end so there is going to be pressure.

“But I thought they may give the managers a clear summer to rebuild and stamp their mark on it to start afresh.

“It could have been a whole different story with the crowd back next season.

“You see mad things in football but I think they deserved another shot at it with the fans being here.”

Donaldson has already fielded a few calls as other clubs show an interest. The 37-year-old aims to keep studying for his UEFA A coaching badge but has no plans to hang up his boots yet.

“Tying in the two could be a possibility but it’s whereabouts now,” he said.

“It’s a stat-based industry and my stats stand firm. The fitness coach said mine were one of the best in the team and I was still one of the quickest.

“He said I was performing at more of a mid-20s level, which is crazy but that’s how I’ve always been.

“I’ve always looked after myself and been dedicated and that’s put me in good stead to keep playing at my age.

“It’s a shame it won’t be at Bradford. I was really looking forward to playing in front of the fans at Valley Parade again.

“There are going to be a whole lot of changes for next season but hopefully for the better.

“You’ve got to respect the decision makers and I’m hoping it all goes well.

“I’m a Bradford fan anyway, so I want things to turn out good for them.”