PLAYER-COACH Wayne Hatswell is set to stay on at Newport County but this week’s Gwent Senior Cup victory may have been his last appearance in an amber shirt.

The veteran centre-back turned 37 in February and has been concentrating mainly on his coaching duties at Spytty Park over the last few months.

He did make 16 appearances in the 2011/12 season, including a vital contribution in the second leg of the FA Trophy semi-final at Wealdstone as County secured their place at Wembley.

But he will meet with manager Justin Edinburgh shortly to discuss his future and expects to be hanging up his boots.

"It was nice to get a run-out," he said after the 2-1 win over Aberbargoed Buds in midweek.

"It was my first game since Wealdstone and I’ve not really trained properly since November.

"It’s hard. You think you can come back and slot straight back in but age catches up with you.

"I don’t know what I want to do personally," he added. "If I stay here and the gaffer wants me to carry on as a coach that will be me done (as a player) and I’ll just have a shout from the sidelines.

"I’ll gladly call it a day. I have missed it but it’s getting harder and harder to keep up with these youngsters.

"I want to keep myself fit but I’m not going to be playing forever and I could have played my last game at Risca but if it was at least I went out with a winner’s medal.

"If he doesn’t want me I may have to get my boots back on and play elsewhere."

Edinburgh is understood to be keen for Hatswell to stay on in a coaching capacity as he views the former Cambridge United defender as an important part of his team.

If it was to be his last match as a player, Hatswell was delighted to sign off by lifting some silverware and getting a glimpse of some potential Exiles stars of the future.

"It’s a lovely trophy, it will look nice in the trophy cabinet and the boys deserved it," he said after leading out a team made up mostly of youth team players alongside Jake Harris and Felino Jardim.

"Glyn Jones has done a great job with the youngsters and got them all playing well.

"Quite a few of them have been drafted in to the first team this season and they did well in the final.

"People like Jake Harris, Andrew Hughes and Lee Evans can be an inspiration to them and show them that they can make the breakthrough at this club.

"The manager has always said that if you’re good enough you are old enough and Lee Evans playing at Wembley showed that."