JAMES Henry wants to carry on playing for at least a couple more years, but admits he has an eye on coaching when he does hang up his boots.

The 35-year-old sees his seven-year spell with Oxford United come to an end this summer, as his contract expires.

His exploits have written himself into modern United folklore, with his 58 goals ensuring only 10 players have scored more than him in the club’s history.

James Henry: Promotion is ‘icing on the cake’ after seven years with U’s

And while he looks for a new club for next season, Henry will also continue with coaching, as he seeks to obtain the UEFA A Licence, with that process beginning over the last few weeks.

Henry told this newspaper: “It was an intense three or four days at St George’s Park. That’s something I enjoy doing and that I want to do.

“I’ve got a year of doing that now, and hopefully I can do some coaching this season, as well as playing.

“That would be the ideal situation for me, but I do still want to play. I still feel I’ve got a lot of value to add to the team.”

On coaching in general, he added: “A few of us did our B Licence a year or so ago, and that was probably the first point when I thought it was for me.

“What role that then becomes is always changing in my head, but it’s definitely a route I want to go down.

“I think it would be a waste of the years’ worth of knowledge I’ve gained from being within a football environment, so that’s definitely where I see the future going.

“I was taking some sessions with the Under-16s this year, which I enjoyed.

“We had some conversations midway through the season about going into that, but for whatever reason, that didn’t pan out for this season, but we’ll see what happens in the future.”

Discussing what the summer ahead holds for him, Henry said: “You sit back a little bit, and first and foremost, try and have a break. This is the first year in a couple of years that I’ve been able to have some downtime.

“I was out last season at the end, with my hamstring, so I was in over the summer, so this is the first year where I’ve been able to just take stock and relax a little bit, especially with us finishing later than a lot of the league.

“We’ll see what happens. I’m sure something will crop up and we’ll go from there.

“It’s still early. You’ve seen in the market that not much is happening, aside from Rotherham, who seem to have signed an entire squad so far. I’m just waiting to see what lands.”