Leeds Rhinos v Salford: There is plenty left in tank, says injury-plagued Danny McGuire

The former England half-back has endured a miserable 2016, having played just 13 times for the defending champions.

He misses tonight’s visit of Salford Red Devils after suffering damage to a foot in the win at London Broncos almost a fortnight ago.

It is the latest setback for the seven-time Grand Final winner who turns 34 in December, but he still hopes to play again this season and has vowed to recapture his best in 2017.

“I did my knee at the start of the year against Warrington and then it’s been my foot, foot and foot again,” explained McGuire.

“It has been the same injury, more or less, with a few little tweaks in between, which doesn’t help.

“I am getting on a bit now and you end up picking up a few more, but I still feel like I have got loads to give.

“This has been a frustrating year with not playing many games, but I still feel like I have a lot left in the tank.

“I am definitely going to knuckle down in pre-season and come back stronger next year.”

McGuire, in his first season after taking over the captaincy from Kevin Sinfield, conceded he never envisaged such problems.

“I didn’t miss a training session all pre-season,” he said.

“I felt in good shape at the start of the year and I felt really good for the half-an-hour I played against Warrington.

“Other than that, it has been a bit of a battle to be honest, but I am pretty determined to make sure this isn’t how my career finishes.

“I am hoping to get back for the back end of this year, but if not I am going to do everything I can in pre-season and look for a big year next year.”

Leeds are well on the way to securing their Super League future for 2017 and a fourth straight Qualifiers win this evening should all but seal it.

McGuire will not feature against Salford and admitted he is partly to blame for this absence, just two games into his latest comeback.

“If I am honest, I probably pushed it a little bit too much with coming back from my foot injury before,” he said.

“It’s something all players do – I am not looking for sympathy or anything like that.

“All players try to knock a couple of weeks off how long they are supposed to be out. Looking back now, I probably should have rested it for a couple more weeks, but that’s the choice you make at the time. I just happened to do the same injury again at London.

“But it wasn’t anything to do with the (artificial) pitch down there; it was just unfortunate.”

Super League rivals Salford are in severe danger of relegation, having won just one of their three games so far to fall to sixth in the Qualifiers table.

Granted, their remaining fixtures after tonight are all against Championship opponents – Featherstone Rovers, London and Batley Bulldogs – but they have already fallen against second-tier Leigh so that offers little comfort.