Billy Sharp: Could a linesman's flag give us one more season of legendary goalscorer?

The striker signed off his Doncaster Rovers career with a Hollywood ending – not just a happy one, but one that left room for yet another sequel.

At 40 years-old, Sharp is approaching the point where he swaps playing for coaching. Right now he is caught in a mid-point, dispensing advice as a mentor, but still pulling on the boots.

"Don't take football for granted, because you don't know when it's your last game," he told the Doncaster players at the weekend.

And it seems like that is especially true of him.

Having scored in the last home game of his third spell at Doncaster, he finished with a second-half hat-trick at Peterborough United.

It meant he had scored Football League hat-tricks in his teens, 20s, 30s and 40s.

He found the net a fourth time, which would have taken him to 300 career goals, only for it to be chalked off for offside.

"I'm one (goal) short," he said after the game. "I'll have a think and see what happens.

"I know I can play on. Age is just a number. Today's made me think twice, definitely."

It was not just the tantalising tally which would have got Sharp thinking. London Road is a reminder of what he will be turning his back on if he does go into coaching now, with Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder already having intimated his club's academy would be interested.

"It just wanted that feeling one more time and to do it three times, nearly four, I felt very lucky," said the Bramall Lane legend who was Wilder’s captain when the Blades finished ninth in the Premier League.

"To get the hat-trick was a fairytale but I've always wanted more.

"The chance came and I thought I'd done it. It would have been unreal but I loved every single minute of the day."