FORMER Scotland international Ian Black insists he has “no regrets” if his career is coming to an end.

The midfielder is without a club after leaving Dunbar United at the end of last season.

Black stressed he was not necessarily finished but had no deal lined up, with the East of Scotland Football League (EoSFL) season having got under way last month.

He told Courier Sport: “As it stands, I have hung my boots up now and the right opportunity has not come along.

“You never know, things change very quickly in a short space of time.

“If something popped up, I would have a look at it.

“The pandemic has kept a lot of people away from the game for a long time.”

Lower league football across Scotland was disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic last season, with the EoSFL campaign halted at the end of 2020.

Black said he had missed playing in the beginning and the European Championships had highlighted that feeling again but, equally, the longer he was away from the game, the more it became normal.

The 36-year-old enjoyed a spell with English Premier League Club Blackburn Rovers before returning north of the Border to join Inverness Caledonian Thistle, where he made his senior debut.

Over five years, he made nearly 150 appearances for the Highland side before following in the footsteps of his dad, also Ian, and joining Hearts in the summer of 2009.

He would go on to score against Celtic and Rangers and starred in the Tynecastle side’s 5-1 thumping of Hibernian in the 2012 Scottish Cup Final.

He would then make the switch to Ibrox, where he won a Scotland cap against Australia.

Black said: “I’m more than happy with what I achieved.

“I had a great career, won everything I wanted to and played for my country and the club I supported.

“I cannot grumble with how it went.

“Representing your country and lifting the Scottish Cup for the team I supported as a kid and having my family there are highlights.”

The refrigerator maintenance engineer also had a spell with hometown club Tranent Juniors before making the switch along the A1 to Dunbar.

The former Ross High School pupil, who has played more than 500 career games, including contests in each of Scotland’s top four leagues, has not ruled out the possibility of pulling his boots back on or getting into coaching.

He added: “The coaching side of things, for me, it is a tough one to get into.

“You need to be a teacher’s pet to get a job.”