Steady Teddy aims to play on

Teddy Sheringham hopes to extend his playing career by a further season at West Ham.

Teddy Sheringham hopes to extend his playing career by a further season at West Ham, provided Alan Pardew uses the scheming striker as a player and not a coach.

The former Tottenham striker was left on the bench for West Ham's excellent 3-2 win at Arsenal on Wednesday, a watching brief that did not sit altogether well with the veteran.

And, while Sheringham would relish a future career in coaching, for the time being at least, the striker, who is approaching his 40th birthday, is firmly focused on his playing career.

"I think you have to be one thing or another when you are at a football club," Sheringham told the Times.

"You're either a coach or a player, otherwise both sides don't know where you stand. It's not for me.

"I'm not teaching them at all, I'm still learning the game as well. If I see Bobby Zamora do something great , I'll think 'how did he do that?'. You never stand still in this game.

"I'm still hungry. I want to play football, I don't want to sit and watch. I'm hoping to sign for next season but I'm not signing to watch. We'll have to see what the situation is."

Sheringham's enduring brilliance saw the veteran linked with moves to former club Tottenham and Blackburn and former boss and current Pompey incumbent Harry Redknapp has even championed Sheringham's England cause.

"Everyone has an opinion and it's lovely when someone says something like that," added Sheringham.

"I've never shut the door on England because you can't turn down the chance to play for your country can you?

"You never know. Tottenham wanted me to go back and that was like a bolt from the blue."