JOHN Watson says he is keen to focus on the end of what could be his final year of playing for Witham Town rather than switch attention to coaching the club's up and coming talented players just yet.

Watson was back in Witham's starting line-up last weekend as they suffered a Bostik League division north setback against Soham Town Rangers and they will now head to fourth-placed Aveley on Friday looking to get back to winning ways after a run that has seen them lose five of their last six outings.

There are just nine games left until the end of the campaign and Town are hoping to rediscover the form that saw them beaten just once in nine fixtures during a superb December and January.

Watson is keen to play his part in that final run-in and the 34-year-old Witham stalwart wants to sign off on a high if it is indeed his last in first-team action.

He said at the start of the current campaign that he was keen to develop a coaching role and work alongside manager Mark Ashford, who was equally eager to make use of his abundance of experience.

Watson said things hadn't quite panned out that way though, as he was still focusing on playing responsibilities, but added that working with Ashford had opened his eyes to the prospect of moving into a coaching role in the future.

He said: “I haven’t been doing too much of the coaching as I’ve figured that this may be my last playing season so I’m cracking on with that and seeing how it’s going.

“But what has changed for me is that I’m looking at it all very differently now.

“I used to just play and be a character in the dressing room; messing around and stuff, but I’ve reined that in a bit.

“I feel as though I maybe need to look at the other side of it.

“I’m learning so much from Mark (Ashford).

“I’d be silly not to because he knows so much about the game and I’m still learning things from him on the playing side of it.

“I’ve never been one that’s too hot on game management as I’ve always been just play, play, play, but I’ve learned a lot from him.

“When you’re under the cosh, you need to take your foot off the gas a bit and waste a bit of time and things like that.

“But it’s also helping me to break the game down when I’m watching it.

“When I’ve been a sub, I’ve looked at things like players having more time on the ball than they think or players around each other letting them know what’s happening.

“You just analyse the game very differently.

“We also have the Hudl system that Mark has brought in and I’m on there all the time looking at things and breaking down the game.

“I’m certainly looking at it very differently now.

"Coaching is something I need to look at because before this year, it wasn’t something I ever really thought about.

“I thought maybe I’d go into something like being a physio.

“I’ve been playing for 17 years at this level and never really had a break so I’m thinking that I’ll miss the dressing room but I’ll see what happens at the end of the year.

“I’m sure I’ll miss it so I’ll see what happens, but at the moment I’m still getting the minutes on the pitch so I’m enjoying it."