Efe Sodje goes into his 20th season in football with no thoughts of retirement in his mind.

The evergreen centre back started in semi-pro football back in the early 1990s, originally playing for Stevenage Borough before making his name at Macclesfield.

Bury is the 39-year-old’s 10th club, and while the former Nigerian international will be missing from Saturday’s league opener against Brentford through suspension, he has no plans to take a back seat. “I don’t think about retiring,” he said. “Every season I go into I always say to myself that I’ll get another five years out of it. “I’ve played for 20 seasons now, but I still enjoy it and just want to keep on playing.

“My target is to score my four goals and just keep on playing and get more games in this season. Last year I played 42 games so maybe I will try to get to 45 games and get less bookings.”

With that in mind, the first competitive game of the season – last Saturday’s Capital One Cup defeat to Middlesbrough – did not go to plan. Sodje started his fourth season with Bury with a straight red card for an alleged elbow, but, up to that point, things had been going well for the old campaigner.

While the Shakers ’ young recruits were complaining about double sessions, pre-season training was like child’s play for Sodje. “After 20 years of pre-season, there is nothing tough,” he said. “You just have to get on with it, you can’t moan. “I just have to train and do my best and make it difficult for the manager to leave me out.”