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Belfast Live
Belfast Live
Sport
Paul O'Hehir

Veteran goalkeeper Alan Mannus in talks over extending playing career further

Alan Mannus is still in talks with Shamrock Rovers about playing on next season.

The former Linfield goalkeeper, 40, was planning to retire at the end of this year but indicated during the summer that he would consider one more campaign.

Mannus - who commutes from Belfast to Dublin every day - bounced back to form this season and played a leading role for the Hoops as they clinched a third title in a row.

Read next: David Healy reacts to links with vacant Northern Ireland job

That was the former Northern Ireland international’s fifth league crown with Shamrock Rovers alone having also won the trophy under Michael O’Neill in 2010 and 2011.

Quizzed on Mannus’ future, current boss Stephen Bradley said he was hopeful that the veteran goalkeeper would commit for the 2023 season.

“We're still talking to Alan,” he said. “I think we've seen he's been brilliant this year. Himself and Brian Maher have probably been the two best ‘keepers in the country.

“You can see he's really enjoying the challenge of playing for us, how we play, and for me, time catches everyone but we've managed his schedule really well.

“He looks really really good and I'd love to keep him here obviously.

“We've been talking for a number of months now and hopefully we can get something done but nothing is decided yet.”

Bradley added: “We need the group to be stronger if we want to go and retain the league next year, and win the cup and compete at a European level like this year.

“This year was all about getting there, seeing where we were and competing. We’ve done that and next year we’ll see if we can go one step further in Europe.”

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