DAVID WHEATER has admitted he will have to do some summer soul-searching as he ponders whether to call time on his illustrious playing career.

Wheater has just completed his 19th season as a professional with Darlington, but it has proved an injury-hit campaign that has seen the 36-year-old struggle with a series of niggling injury issues.

Having been named in the Quakers squad for Saturday’s final game of the season against Peterborough Sports, the former Middlesbrough and Bolton Wanderers centre-half was forced to withdraw from Alun Armstrong’s matchday group when he suffered another injury setback during the warm-up.

While his Darlington contract is reaching its end, he would ideally like to continue playing somewhere next season. But with his body beginning to creak, he accepts it might be time to hang up his boots for good.

“I was fine in training on the Thursday, but after running about, it was clear it wasn’t okay,” said Wheater. “I just went in and told the gaffer, ‘Maybe my body is trying to tell me something’.

“It is what it is. I’m 36 now. People used to say all the time that when you get to a certain age, injuries keep happening and you’ll have to retire. I was thinking, ‘No chance, I’m going to play for as long as I can’. But it’s a thought in the back of your mind when you keep getting injured all the time.

“It’s annoying, and then you’ve got big Dan (O’Connor, physio) who’s been looking after me, and it’s taking up his time as well. We’re best mates now, but you don’t want to be with the physio a lot. It’s happened this season, so I’ll have a think about it. I love playing football, it’s just that it hurts now. We’ll see what happens.”

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While Wheater tried his best to contribute to Darlington’s ultimately unsuccessful attempts to secure a play-off place in the last few months, he admits his lengthy spells on the sidelines were a source of considerable frustration.

“You’re getting paid to play football and you’re not playing,” he continued. “So, when that money keeps coming in, you’re thinking, ‘Am I earning this?’

“It’s hard. I love playing football, but it hurts. And then in training when I’m running about, it’s hard for me and I’m thinking, ‘Yeah, but these lads are 15 or 16 years younger than me’. I feel young in my head, until I start running about. Then it hits you.”

Darlington claimed a 1-0 win over Peterborough in their final game of the season at Kettering, but a poor run over the course of the last couple of months meant they completed the campaign a point adrift of the play-off positions.

“The lads wanted to go out on a high, but it’s just such a shame that we didn’t get into the play-offs,” said Wheater. “It’s just mad that with the bad run we’ve been on, we’ve just missed out by a point. It’s crazy really.”