Given happy to stay at Newcastle

SHAY GIVEN admits he would happily see out the rest of his career at Newcastle.

The 31-year-old Republic of Ireland international last week celebrated a decade since his £1.5m move from Blackburn to Tyneside.

He has four years left on his current contract, but has not ruled out an extended stay at St James’ Park.

Given said: “I have got four years left on my contract and I will definitely be here for them – and hopefully a few more beyond that.

“When I signed, I knew I was coming to a huge football club. It’s a special place to play football, what with the fans and the stadium, and hopefully we will be able to win something while I’m here because you can just imagine what the place would be like.”

Given has made the number one shirt at St James’ his own under stiff competition from the likes of Shaka Hislop, Pavel Srnicek and current deputy Steve Harper.

He currently has 413 appearances to his name, just 83 short of fellow keeper Jimmy Lawrence’s club record, and seems certain to beat that figure.

Given added: “It would be marvellous to pass the appearance record. I want to play as many games as possible for my club and country, but you can’t look too far ahead – just look at last season with my injuries.

“But I’m feeling good at the moment and we will just have to see how things work out.”