Emmet Malone on the veteran midfielder who still has a lot of football in him

It's a long time now since injury first threatened to curtail Paul Osam's career, but having been written off more times than he cares to remember, the 35-year-old heads into tomorrow afternoon's Carlsberg FAI Cup semi-final against Bohemians pleased to assure us that reports of his demise have, yet again, been grossly exaggerated.

All season long the Dubliner, who has won six league titles during his time with Shamrock Rovers and, of course, St Patrick's, has had to field question about his last crack at the cup. "I did say that I might give it up at the end of the season so I brought it on myself, I suppose," he laughs, "but the truth is I'm enjoying this season and I've been talking to Eamonn Collins about carrying on. It's going well and I expect to sign very soon."

As a teenager Osam might have joined the procession of youngsters to England but after a groin problem that kept him sidelined for almost nine months the offers dried up, he recalls, and he settled into establishing himself as one of the outstanding midfielders of his generation in the domestic game.

Injuries have been a feature of his career ever since but the way he has overcome these difficulties, primarily with his left knee, which has been operated on five times, has merely served to underline the scale of his achievements.

Ahead of tomorrow's short trip across the city to Dalymount, Osam is carrying a minor back strain but, as so often when he is less than 100 per cent, he expects to play. He admits to a renewed enthusiasm for the game since Collins took over at Richmond Park and began to guide the team in the relentlessly positive manner his veteran midfielder admires.

"I think it's a major problem in the league that far too many teams are preoccupied with not losing games. My own view is managers should send their teams out to win, and that's what Eamonn does - the training is all about crisp passing and movement of the ball, it's enjoyable and you can see the results.

"Last year we were nicknamed 'set piece athletic' but this year I think only two teams have outscored us."

He would like, at some stage, to put his own ideas on management to the test but is not sure he would get any takers. As he speaks, however, it is clear that having played under some of the best managers in the game here he has thought a good deal about how things should be done.

"As a younger, players Billy Bagster would have been a major influence and Brian (Kerr), of course, but then Pat (Dolan) had a massive impact on me too. It was at a time when the game was changing, a lot more training and different ways of doing things, and I think - like a lot of lads who'd been around when you trained on Tuesday and Thursday, then played on Sunday and that was your lot - I was a bit lazy. Pat was always on my case and it was a good thing for me at that particular time."

These days Osam doesn't need to be told what needs to be done. Since his son, Evan, was born he has, he says, matured on and off the pitch, which has helped to extend a career many felt would have ended a decade or more ago.

Long enough, perhaps, to give him the cup medal he still lacks, but next season, he insists, there will be a bigger prize to aim for. "With the league cup win, if we could manage third in the league then even if we go out on Sunday it will have been a tremendous season for us.

"There are great things happening at the club and next year we can be there, going for the league again."