Grant Holt says he is staying open-minded over his future after his departure from Scottish Championship winners Hibernian.

The Carlisle-born frontman says he is eager to prolong his eventful career despite turning 36 last month.

Former Premier League striker Holt was released by Hibs after helping them to promotion back to the Premiership.

The ex-Norwich favourite says he now plans to bide his time before considering his next move.

"I'm 36 now, but I made 37 appearances this season and I'm probably the fittest I've been for a long while," Holt told the News & Star.

"I'm feeling great, enjoying my football, still playing with a smile on my face, and I want to keep doing that.

"I'm lucky that I now have the opportunity to sit back, see what opportunities come in and decide what's right for me."

Holt said he has already been contacted by several clubs but will not rush into a decision on where he could play next.

"I want to do some coaching - I've got my badges and it would be a shame to waste them," he added.

"I had the chance to take Hibs' under-20s for 12 or 13 games towards the end of the season and really enjoyed it.

"But playing would still come first for me. I've had a few phonecalls but I've told them and my representative I want a few weeks off to spend some time with my wife and kids. It's been a long year and I haven't seen much of them."

Holt said he had a memorable time with the Edinburgh club, which ended with a title-winners' medal around his neck.

The Harraby man scored seven goals for Neil Lennon's side in the 2016/17 campaign whilst building a cult following among the Easter Road faithful.

Holt, who is returning to Carlisle on Sunday to play in Tony Hopper's charity game at Brunton Park, said: "It took a while, probably until December, for me to really get going - I hadn't kicked a ball for nearly two years properly, because of injuries - but after the turn of the year I was feeling great and the team team was doing well.

"Probably a lot of the crowd in the first four months were thinking, 'Who the hell have we signed here?', but once I found my feet and thought I had a good second half of the season, managed to get a few more goals and did well against the likes of Hearts and Aberdeen.

"I always said I went up there to get promoted, and I had an absolutely great time. It's a fantastic club and I'm so pleased they're back in the Premiership. When you get older, as I am now, you go places for challenges and that's what it was about for me.

"At the end of the season I had a chat with the manager and we came to the conclusion that what we both wanted wasn't quite there. It was amicable and that's just football. Now that chapter's done and it's up to me to have a summer off and see what I want to do after that."