STEVE MORISON admitted he wanted a longer deal when he joined Millwall from Leeds United last summer.
The current Millwall captain extended his current contract this week when he committed his future to the club until at least the end of the 2016-17 season when he will be approaching his 34th birthday.
Morison signed a one-year deal with the Lions in August and negotiations that had gone on for two weeks were brought to a satisfactory conclusion with the announcement of the new agreement on Tuesday.
There was an understanding in place that a new deal would be on the table if the former Norwich City striker’s form merited it, and Morison said he understands the club’s position.
Morison explained: “When you’re over the age of 32 they only give you a one-year contract. Obviously I wanted a longer contract but they were only willing to give me a year and it was down to me to prove to them that I was worthy of a second year.
“That’s what I had to do, I managed to do it and I’ll have to try and do it again next year to get another year after that.
“Obviously it’s just club policy now. For any player you want to get as long a contract as you possibly can but sometimes you have to earn it and work a little bit harder than others.
“It’s a difficult one. Look at Jamie Vardy, he’s 29 and has signed a new three-year deal with Leicester so he’ll be 32 or 33 coming into the last year of his contract.
“But it’s a policy that they’ve got in place here, that they want to keep to and hopefully it works. Over the past few years they’ve been giving ridiculous contracts to players that wouldn’t have got those contracts elsewhere at this kind of age or maybe a bit younger. One thing for certain is it hasn’t worked out, has it?
“Fingers crossed I keep free from injuries and I keep looking after myself the way I do. As I said before, you live right and you live for the sport. You don’t live like every other person on the street, you have to live in the best possible way and if you do that you give yourself a chance of being fit and in the best shape you can.
“I’ll just continue to do that and hopefully keep getting picked and my performances will speak for themselves.”