Aiden McGeady decided to continue playing at Hibernian

The former Celtic and Republic of Ireland winger has been ruled out for the remainder of the current season with a serious thigh injury that required surgery.

With his contract at Easter Road expiring in the summer, it put his future in doubt and raised questions about whether he would hang up his boots.

The ex-Sunderland, Everton and Spartak Moscow striker turned 37 on Tuesday and spoke openly in January about retiring after dealing with a recurring knee problem earlier this season.

However, after discussions and acknowledging that the most important goal is to get the veteran fit again, Johnson has reported that McGeady has pledged to extend his career.

He said: “We had a brief chat but the main focus for us and for him is getting fit.

“We have to do that anyway and then a decision has to be made based on that. It’s the right thing to do to make sure we see through this process.

“That can take anywhere from 12 to 24 weeks depending on how he is responding to the surgery and how his rehab is going and the age factor is a factor.

“But the only thing I know and can say publicly is that he is very, very interested in continuing to play and he is very interested in continuing to play for Hibs.

“Especially with a player of this age there are many things for him and for us to consider.

“But the update is that he wants to keep playing.”

Hibs, meanwhile, continues to lead his reign over goalkeeper Maksymilian Boruc – the cousin of former Celtic favorite Artur.

Boruc currently plays for Slask Wroclaw, having played at Stoke City and West Brom, but the 20-year-old has been training with the Easter Road side for the past two weeks.

Johnson said: “He’s still here. He would always be here for a couple of weeks, and he’s done quite well, to be honest.

“He’s a good size, he’s got a good build, he’s decent with his feet. Stuart Garden, the goalkeeping coach, works closely with him.

“It wasn’t something we were necessarily desperate to pursue, we have a good young goalkeeper in Murray Johnson and also a couple of younger ones who we think are very good.

“The thing is to keep Marsh [David Marshall] keep him fit, let him fly and make sure we give all our young goalkeepers every opportunity to be the successor plan for him.”