Shaun Goater has begun to think the unthinkable - life away from Manchester City.

The Maine Road striking legend believes his future may lie away from the club he loves after being forced onto the sidelines following the arrival of Robbie Fowler.

Speaking exclusively to yesterday, the 33-year-old Bermudian, who joined City in 1998 from Bristol City and still has a year to go on his contract, issued what could be interpreted as a 'come and get me' plea to teams in both the English Premiership and the Nationwide First Division ahead of next season.

His decision to speak out follows a truncated term in City's return to the top flight.

He has started 13 Premiership games for the Citizens and has come of the bench for a further 11. A total of seven goals have been scored with his most memorable coming against arch rivals Manchester United - two in a 3-1 win at Maine Road in November and one in the 1-1 draw at Old Trafford in February.

His last full start came against Newcastle in January, but following the ?6 million signing of Fowler from Leeds United as the transfer window closed at the end of that same month, he has fallen out of favour with City manager Kevin Keegan, not personally but rather tactically.

On Monday, during the traditional Easter football programme, Goater was forced to watch from stands as City beat Sunderland 3-0, his place on the bench taken by loanee Djamel Belmadi.

Stressing that this omission was not the catalyst for his comments, Goater nonetheless agreed that it was a good illustration of how times had changed since his was the first name on the team sheet.

"It's been over two months now since I have started a game," he said. "But it's only now that I have started to contemplate what it means.

"Two months is a long period to not be involved when I am actually fit. I want first team football; I have plenty still left in me and I want to be playing."

Goater said he was on the verge of making a decision he seldom thought he would have to make.

"I never thought I would have these thoughts," he said. "At this moment in time I am starting to think 'Where is my future?' I have got to think what the best thing for me is.

"It's great to be at a club where you are loved and the fans adore you and you can't really do anything wrong, but what I am getting now from people are comments like 'Brilliant goal against United' - that seems like last season to me.

"It's only when I go home and think about it that it hits me that that is the only thing they have to refer to; that is the only goal or big performance they can remember. It seems so long ago to me.

"Wanting to be playing regular is starting to come to the forefront of my mind more and more. Where does this lead? I have to say watch this space."

Keegan has made no secret that his 'dream pairing' up front is Nicolas Anelka and Fowler and he has stuck with them through thin and thinner.

Anelka has had a lean time of late and Fowler has only scored twice since his arrival, the second coming against already relegated Sunderland this week.

Despite that, Goater has found it increasingly difficult to get a look-in.

"When strikers were coming in I thought playing alongside them would be brilliant," he said. "I welcomed the challenge and had absolutely no problem with it at all. But the light at the end of the tunnel, if there is a light, is very dim.

"If I had played five games and not scored I know I would have been dropped but the manager feels Anelka and Fowler will work and that is why he is sticking with them.

"It's a very difficult situation to be in. The spell they have just gone through has perhaps been their worst spell and things for them can only get better, and they will.

"If I cannot get in during that period then when they are firing on all cylinders there is no chance."

It should also be remembered that Goater is not the only striker playing second fiddle to the preferred players. There's Darren Huckerby, 27-years-old today and currently on loan at First Division Nottingham Forest, Costa Rican international Paulo Wanchope (26) who is recovering from long term injury, Jon Macken (25) who has just forced his way into the picture after a long lay-off and youngster Matias Vuoso.

"Come the start of next season there are four players, all first team, who I would be competing against as well," Goater said. "If I am not winning the battle with the two that are up front now then it will be even more of a challenge next season."

Leaving City would be massive wrench for the player, but he knows "nothing is forever".

"I am upset because I have got attached to the club. But am I upset with the way it has turned out? No, because football is like that," he said. "A season or two ago I was perhaps in Nicolas' and Robbie's position and the manager was saying 'Shaun is starting no matter what'. In football you have points were you are on the up and are the most important thing to the club and there's no amount of money they will sell you for, then there's the point were you can go.

"Nothing is forever and I am a realist. As much as I would love to stay, the only reason I could see that happening is if I have opportunities when perhaps strikers aren't performing. But I think their good form is just around the corner."

Goater said that he had anticipated playing his final game of football in a City shirt. He could then hang up his boots a happy man. "I actually then saw myself getting involved in coaching with the club with the youth academy and so forth," he said. "That's where I saw my football future.

Now, it probably will be elsewhere. There are just too many barriers for me to break through."