Peter Gain signs one-year extension to deal at Victoria Road

VETERAN midfielder Peter Gain has signed a one-year extension to his contract at Dagenham & Redbridge and insists he is keen to stay at the club for as long as possible.

The former Tottenham Hotspur trainee has featured in every game this season and been rewarded with a new deal, which runs until the end of the 2011/12 season.

Gain, who turns 34 next month, agreed terms on Friday and says he sees no reason why he will not be able to prolong his stay again at a later date.

“It was done pretty quickly. It’s more or less an extension of my current deal,” said the former Republic of Ireland under-21 international.

“I love it at Dagenham and I was happy to sign for another year, definitely.

“I can’t really put a date down on how long I see myself playing at this level for, but I feel as fit as I ever have at the moment.

“Luckily I’ve not put on any weight so I can get around the pitch, in my opinion. I’m not sure what other people think – but I feel fine at the moment.”

Having played in all 12 league and cup games, on the back of being a near ever-present last season, Gain is in a better position than most to judge the Daggers’ season trajectory from a first-hand perspective.

“I think we’ve been very unlucky, in particular at the start of the season,” he said.

“Against Tranmere we threw away points and at Notts County we never should have lost.

“Against Bristol Rovers and Bournemouth we had to hold our hands up and say we’ve got to do better, but apart from that I think we’ve done brilliantly considering where we’ve come from.”

Now, in order to help maintain the recent momentum, the vocal mainstay has urged his younger team-mates to follow his lead and not settle for second best from each other on the pitch.

“Throughout my career I’ve always been loud, whether I’m talking sense or not,” he laughed.

“I’m always talking during a game and I think a lot of us have to talk more on the pitch because I think it helps.

“I don’t think we do enough of that and the gaffer has told us as well. So hopefully we start to see more of that so I don’t stand out as much.”

The resurgent Daggers will now look to extend their unbeaten run to five matches at MK Dons on Saturday, a fixture Gain believes will be one of their toughest to date.

“I think they’ve been the best side we’ve played this year,” he warned.

“I started on the bench (in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy game) so I actually watched it more thoroughly than I would if I was playing.

“They are a very good side and hopefully we’ll go out and give them a game on Saturday.”