Nedum Onuoha wants to emulate his idol and carry on playing until he’s 37 and beyond.

The QPR defender plans to take a leaf out of Sylvain Distin’s illustrious career and continue for another decade at the top of his game.

The 28-year-old Ranger has totted up an impressive 232 appearances, including 84 for Hoops. But that’s dwarfed by the 689 piled high by the Frenchman since his first season back in his native country 18 years ago.

Distin might have been released by Everton (see gallery) but that hasn't diminished his former team-mate's admiration for him.

Onuoha believes doing what his former City colleague does will help him remain fit while extending his career.

“Sylvain’s only now starting to miss a few games at 37,” Onuoha said. “Anyone older than you and doing the same things as you, you have to figure what it takes.”

The Rangers player has suffered his fair share of hamstring injuries - the stumbling block of all players blessed with great pace - ask Michael Owen.

As a result, Onuoha has no qualms picking up snippets of fitness training from his contemporaries, including another with whom he did time at The Etihad.

“Sometimes it’s good to ask and get insight on different styles of training," he said. "You take, Gareth Barry, he got injured for a week, and it was his first hamstring injury at the age of 29 when at City and I was speechless.”