JOEY Barton has admitted making a comeback from his 18-month ban for betting offences is going to be 'really difficult', but he hasn't yet given up hope of a return to English football.

The 34-year-old former Burnley midfielder was hit with the ban from all football activity after admitting Football Association charges that accused him of having placed 1,260 bets on matches between 2006 and 2016.

Barton requested a personal hearing after admitting the charge and was banned after that took place in April, playing his final game for the Clarets against Manchester United at Turf Moor.

Earlier this week he was released by Burnley after the six-month deal he signed when returning to the club in January for a second spell came to an end.

Barton knows a comeback is going to be difficult given the length of the ban, although he is set to appeal, but he still has hope he can pull it off.

"You can work in six-month windows, you can potentially work in 12-month windows but if it's 18 months - that's the better part of 60, 70 football matches," he said Barton.

"It makes it really difficult and certainly at the age that I'm at, it makes it incredibly difficult. It makes it an even better story should you have the audacity to pull it off."

Barton was speaking at the 15th annual Cross Sports Book Awards ceremony in London, where his book No Nonsense won the autobiography of the year award.

He believes the next year and a half will be a test of character but is looking forward to life beyond football as well.

When asked if he had played his last match, Barton said: "I don't think I have. I may well have but personally I don't think that is the case.

"I've always said that I don't think football will define me. Well I'm going to find out over the next 18 months whether that is the case and whether my character stands the test of that.

"I'm really optimistic about the future, there is more to life than being a footballer and I'm really looking forward to finding out about that."