DEFIANT BAMBA NOT READY TO HANG UP HIS BOOTS JUST YET

A DEFIANT Sol Bamba has insisted that his playing career is not over and is adamant he wants to play on for another season “touring around the country” to thank Cardiff City fans for their support.

On Saturday, Bamba made his first appearance in a Bluebirds shirt since he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma in December, following six chemotherapy sessions and a month-long return to training.

Those final moments against Rotherham might have just been the best 10 seconds of Cardiff City’s season, with not only Bluebirds supporters but the whole footballing fraternity showing their love for him after he completed his emotional comeback.

Bamba, who underwent the last of his chemotherapy sessions almost three weeks ago, certainly has bigger things on his mind at the minute, but it is a fact that his playing contract is up this summer.

However, the 36-year-old

Ivorian has bullishly claimed he is not ready to hang up the boots just yet.

Despite something of a fairytale return to the pitch at Cardiff City Stadium last weekend, he wants a seasonlong swansong to say a proper goodbye in person to Bluebirds supporters who have been so vocal in backing him during these difficult four months or so.

“I feel like I can’t finish like that, I want to finish on my own terms,” Bamba told Sky Sports. “I’ve played the game long enough to enjoy every moment, especially at my age now.

“Ideally, I want to finish in front of fans, I want to play for another year and do a tour around the country to thank them for all the support they gave me.

“I’ve worked hard to be in the position I’m in now and I want to carry on next season.”

There is no doubt that, should Cardiff offer him a new playing contract, a new deal will encompass some form of coaching remit. The club have a long-term plan in place for Bamba, who is due to complete his A licence next January, in terms of him being involved as a coach - he frequently takes sessions for the under-18s and under-23s.

Undertaking his badges with the FAW has helped to take his mind away from the bad times and helped him focus on his next goal.

For four months, those goals were to focus on doing his coaching badges and work towards the unlikely scenario that he might be able to return to the pitch before the season’s end. That, of course, he did on Saturday.

And from being involved in the match-day buzz once again to eventually crossing that whitewash, he said there was simply no better feeling.

“I was absolutely buzzing,” he added. “It was a couple of seconds, but the fact that I was back on the pitch with everything I’ve been through the last four months, it was pure joy.”