All or nothing for Schmeichel

Peter Schmeichel will adopt an all or nothing approach over his decision whether to extend his playing career by another year.

The veteran Danish goalkeeper returned from a six-match absence against Birmingham yesterday and is now hoping for an injury-free run to the end of the season, when he will decide whether to sign a new contract with Manchester City.

Over the past two months Schmeichel has become increasingly disillusioned with the state of his health, with a succession of setbacks from a recent calf injury culminating with his warm-up withdrawal from the Manchester derby at Old Trafford last month.

City boss Kevin Keegan recognises the massive off-field impact Schmeichel has had at Maine Road since his free transfer from Aston Villa 12 months ago and is keen for the 39-year-old to stay.

If he stays fit, the indications are that Manchester United’s European Cup-winning captain will agree, although he has ruled out any deal which would only see him play a limited number of games.

“It has to be everything or nothing,” he told BBC GMR.

“We all have days where we would prefer to stay at home but as a footballer there can be no short cuts.

“You have to go out there and perform to a certain level. Having the option of saying ‘I’m not feeling right put somebody else in’, I couldn’t work under those conditions.”

A final decision on Schmeichel’s future plans is not expected until the end of May, even though Keegan is already finalising his plans for the season.

The City boss has indicated that he will leave the matter in his goalkeeper’s safe hands, which suits Schmeichel given his recent fitness record.

“If the manager is waiting for me, it could be a long time,” he said.

“I would be quite happy to wait until May because in order to make any kind of decision, it is important to be playing and know what my physical capabilities are.

“I have been out for eight weeks and as the days go by without any massive improvement it puts a doubt in your mind.

“When you are sat in the stand and you can see things are not working or going the right way it is even more frustrating. You want to be on the pitch helping the team.

“Eventually we stopped trying to get back for the next game and made sure I only came back when my fitness was right.

“I could probably have played against Blackburn a fortnight ago but the coaching staff knew if I didn’t, I would have two extra weeks to recover and feel the benefit to the end of the season and possibly beyond.

“I still love playing and yesterday was the best I have felt all season. Finally I have had the time to recover from all the other problems I have had.”

Schmeichel’s return coincided with City’s first Premiership win since January 29, striker Robbie Fowler netting his debut strike for the Maine Road outfit after four games without a goal.

With eight games remaining, City remain in 12th spot, their dreams of qualifying for Europe with a top-six finish having long since evaporated.

However, Schmeichel insists they still have plenty to play for, not least the chance to establish a winning mentality in readiness for next season.

“It’s about preparation for next season now,” he said.

“We need to finish knowing we can win games because next season we are going to go for Europe.

The manager has made it clear that will be the target. Over the next eight games we have to start getting used to winning.”