FRESH from agreeing to sign permanently for the Iron, Eddie Nolan has admitted the good times he enjoyed at Preston North End could never be replicated.

After spending the first half of the campaign on loan from Scunthorpe's Championship rivals, the Irishman decided to extend his stay at Glanford Park until the end of the season.

But the six month deal signed by the full-back will disappoint many United fans, who would have expected a new signing to put his name to a longer term contract.

But for the former Blackburn Rovers star, it is a chance to put much unwanted uncertainty to bed for the time being at least.

"I have enjoyed my time here, Scunthorpe have shown faith in me and I'd like to continue what I started off here and keep the club in the division," said Nolan of his decision, while also revealing that Sheffield Wednesday had not come back in for him in the winter months, despite interest in the summer.

"I'm sure if I am happy in Scunthorpe, and I have been playing well, Scunthorpe will want to keep me.

"But it is too early to say, you have to wait until closer to the end of the season."

“There has been a lot of speculation lately.

“I have finally made my decision, now I just want to get my head down and concentrate on my football.”

A fair amount of that speculation was created only because of the time it took for Nolan to come to a decision.

But, having spoken to North End caretaker boss David Unsworth, the defender believed the Iron were the right choice.

“The last month I have been unsure what to do, but I finally came to a decision and I am pleased with it,” added Nolan, who claimed the fee agreed in the summer - believed to be around £100,000 - was the one paid by United to secure his services.

“I don’t really want to go into whether there were other options, I just want to concentrate on playing for Scunthorpe now," he added.

“I had a chat with David Unsworth, the caretaker manager at Preston.

“He rang me but I think I had already made my mind up.

“I had some good times there and I don’t think I will ever get those good times back again so it is time for a new challenge.

“I have said numerous times before, we have a lot of quality in the squad here and slowly but surely we are getting back to the way we know we can play.

“We should have got all three points against Watford, or at least a point, but we are getting there.

“I think, hopefully, there will be a few new faces introduced which could give us that bit more depth and help us move up the table.”

With the prospect of the same scenario happening again in the summer when his short-term deal expires, Nolan chose not to think that far ahead.

“We will re-evaluate things in the summer but there is always a chance I could stay on,” he said.