GOALSCORING legend Ian Wright IS considering extending his playing career with Burnley into another season.

The former England striker will spend the summer thinking over the chance to take up a new contract offer at Turf Moor.

But he will have to satisfy himself that he can still produce the goods and be fit enough to do himself justice in front of goal before deciding whether or not to play on.

Speculation has been mounting about Wright's future plans as he balances his declared intention to retire against his love for the game, which is still burning brightly enough to produce vital goals for the Clarets.

Wright himself admits he's still undecided, but the prospect of prolonging his career is still on the cards.

"I haven't closed the door on it," he said.

"I'm going to have a good summer thinking about it and then I'm going to try and make a decision that can be beneficial to everybody when I get back. Because I have got quite a lot of time in the summer I think that's the best thing to do."

He added: "If I start saying things now to commit myself to either yeah or nay, it's going to cause a lot of people to have false hope or whatever, because everyone here has been unbelievable to me. They helped me through a really difficult period at the start. And now it's going really well and it's looking really promising and I would like to be able to say to people like that 'yes or no'." But Wright clearly feels he's not yet in a position to do that.

"I wouldn't want to say I'm going to play or I'm not going to play next year because I wouldn't want to either raise hopes or give people false beliefs," he added.

"The thing is there is so much to take into consideration. People have been saying 'if you can play, you must play' and I do believe that because I would miss football more than anything in my life.

"It's just my body now that's starting to say that I'm really stretching myself."

When Wright was enduring a torrid time north of the border with Celtic, a career that has earned him 33 England caps, FA Cup and Premiership winners' medals and nearly 250 League goals looked certain to end next month.

However, his move to Burnley has revitalised the 36-year-old who was looking to add to his four-goal tally against Cambridge United at Turf Moor this afternoon and push the Clarets a step nearer their promotion dream.

Wright added: "You've got to remember football's been a major part of my life since I was eight and now I'm in this position where I've announced earlier in the season that I was going to retire.

"I still feel that way, but obviously with the lads, the way it's gone and the buzz here it does make you ask 'Am I making a hasty decision?'

"But it's just fatigue now with my ankle and my knee. Those are the things you have to take into consideration."

Wright has been an inspirational figure at Turf Moor since his shock arrival in February and the crucial goals he scored against Gillingham, Notts County and then Brentford last Monday have given him food for thought and underlined he's still got what it takes. "When you score goals like that, important goals where there's something on it, and you know you've made a difference, those things make you realise that you've still got something to offer," he said.

"I still try and work as hard as I can when I train and that's why, when you look at some of the goals, it just seems like it's just the same for me.

"But I am working hard to get in the condition to do that and it is getting harder to do. I wouldn't want to let anybody down and I wouldn't want to be playing next year and not be able to give everything and people start saying 'I remember when.'

"They say I have got flashes where I can show them that I can still do it.

"But I don't want to be playing where I'm just looking like a joke."