Bucko has an eye on the next stage of his career

HE’S NOT FINISHED PLAYING BUT HE’S AIMING TO COACH

JAKE Buxton is preparing for life in coaching and management later in his football career – but he is keen to keep having an impact on the field as well as off it first.

The Burton Albion club captain came off the bench to help his side secure a 2-1 victory over Shrewsbury Town in League One on Saturday.

The 33 minutes plus stoppage time Buxton played was his longest involvement in a League match since August, with a back injury having sidelined him through much of September and opportunities since having come as a substitute.

But while the former Derby County man’s onfield role is becoming that of a defensive reinforcement, sent on to see out a tight game, he exerts a key influence in the dressing room and is working towards his coaching badges.

And even if it keeps him out of the team, Buxton wants to have a hand in driving his team-mates on.

“I’m at that stage at my career where I’ve still got a bit to give and until somebody tells me I can’t put my boots on any more, I’ll continue trying to play,” he said.

“But while I am doing the transition, I’ve got an awful amount of respect for the football club, an awful amount of respect for Nigel Clough, and I’ll continue trying to put my point across.

“If I can help anybody to improve, be it John Brayford, Kyle McFadzean or Ben Turner, if they can improve a little bit and it keeps me out of the side, I’m doing something right to continue my improvement as a coach and then, later in life, to be a manager and move on to the dark side, as they say!

“I’m at that stage where I’m trying to help people throughout the week.

“I don’t come out at half-time to warm-up with the lads, I try to have an input at half-time, to tell people what I see.

“I try to improve the lads on their playing from the back, before the game, if you’ve seen in the warm-ups.

“I’m not a selfish lad, I’m trying to get things across to the boys. But when I came on the pitch, it was all about digging in and being determined to try not to give those three points up and concede a goal.

“Even though we did concede against Shrewsbury (when Fejiri Okenabirhie notched a 95th-minute consolation), we did it for 45 minutes in the second half, saying we’re not going to concede.

“It’s a shame we did but if we’d have conceded in the first 20 minutes, it would have been a lot longer half for us and we’d have probably crumbled at the end.”

For a player who has also worn the captain’s armband for Derby, Wigan Athletic and Mansfield Town in the past, continuing into coaching or management could feel a natural step in the future.

Buxton is waiting to make those decisions when the time comes along and sees maintaining standards with the Brewers as his primary focus in the here and now.

“I think when you’ve been a leader as a captain, normally that is the role, I’ve just continued doing that,” he added about playing more of an off-field role at the Pirelli Stadium.

“Without playing, I’ve continued to be the same person I’ve been for 10 years in the dressing room, the same person in trying to keep standards on the training pitch.

“And on the other side of it, I am going through the process of my A licence and that’s the next step, yes.

“I want to continue playing as long as I can and see if an opportunity comes to change over at some point, whether it be here, somewhere else later down the line, if I continue playing after this season, an opportunity arises to take over somewhere, be a coach somewhere or take over a youth team, that sort of role.

“Sometimes you can’t plan your future, when you get to this stage.

“You can have a thought process on what you want to do but I think things just happen and you have to make that decision at that period in time.”

I’m trying to help people throughout the week... I try to have an influence at half-time Jake Buxton