MATT Kilgallon admitted he was tempted to try his luck in India.

The centre half is set to return to City’s defence tomorrow after being rested for the Oldham game.

Kilgallon has been in cracking form so far this season and was rewarded last week with a year’s contract extension.

That came after he received an offer in the August transfer window to join the Indian Premier League.

Kilgallon is enjoying being at the heart of City’s plans after an injury-hit first term at Valley Parade.

But he did have a serious think about the lure of performing on the sub-continent.

Kilgallon said: “I was tempted. I’m 34 in January so how many years do I have left?

“I wasn’t sure what was happening here.

“They offered me very good money like they do over there. Everyone knows that.

“I was thinking ‘it’s only six months on my own’. I’ve got kids now so I can finish after that – ‘happy days!’

“I spoke to the gaffer and he was absolutely brilliant with me. He could understand exactly where I was coming from.

“But he wanted to keep me and the chairman was the same. He saw me as part of it here and said he’d sort me out with a contract.

“The club were really good with me and I appreciate that.

“I signed straight away. The gaffer’s great with me and it’s a very good team here trying to go up.”

Kilgallon believes he can finally demonstrate his proper form to the City support after spending such a large percentage of last season stuck on the sidelines.

“Getting the bad injury with the pec muscle just stopped me from playing,” he added.

“Then I’d filled in a position (left back) that’s not my best one.

“I tried my best but none of the fans had seen what I can do in my favourite role. It was frustrating for me because I wanted to show them.

“But I trained hard when I was off and not in the team. I was trying to impress every day and I think the gaffer saw that.

“I knew I had to do everything to get in the team. It was like being a 16-year-old again in pre-season.

“I made sure I was first in the line for all the warm-ups. I had to be ‘Mr Busy’ but it worked for me and I’ve not looked back.”

And while it may lack the lavish surroundings that foreign stars enjoy in India, Kilgallon sees no comparison with League One when it comes to the fans.

He said: “I know you’ve got the likes of Wes Brown over there now and (Dimitar) Berbatov and you live like movie stars in the hotel.

“But it’s not the same as Bury away – I don’t know if they’d have our fans behind both goals!”