Alan McManus believes John Higgins may need a ‘good kick up the backside’ after his fellow Scot revealed he was considering retirement following their match at the UK Championship.

Higgins admitted his 26-year professional career could be coming to an end after losing a thrilling second-round battle with McManus 6-5 at the York Barbican.

But while McManus said only the four-time world champion knows how he feels about his game, the 47-year-old feels Higgins is possibly just in need of a few motivational words.

“I think he could be doing with picking and choosing a little as I’ve said before, but that’s just my opinion - and so many people have opinions on John,” he said.

“He knows this game better than anyone, and he knows his own game better than anyone, how he feels and how he wants to perform.

“Is it too simplistic to say ‘no’, all you need to do is three, four or five hours a day for two months, is that the solution or is it more upstairs that’s the solution?

“If you mentally want to not play then it’s a problem, but I don’t think physically John has any problem playing – that’s pretty much painted and cast in stone.

“Maybe he just needs a good kick up the backside, we all do sometimes, and if he has strong words about his own game then I can understand why.

“He’s been in the last two Crucible finals, he wins this, he wins that, but there is a way out of it for him, there isn’t any question of that – how he chooses to do it is up to him.”

Watch the Snooker UK Championship LIVE on Eurosport and Eurosport Player with analysis from Jimmy White and Neal Foulds