TOM Aldred has wished Bury well, despite his departure bringing an unsuccessful spell with the club to an end.

The defender’s two-year deal expires at the end of this month, although he has spent the last 18 months on loan with Scottish side

Motherwell.

Having been a regular for the Well, the 28-year-old has had offers from clubs in the UK and overseas, and will definitely leave Bury.

Like the rest of the squad, Aldred has gone without pay recently, but the centre-half had such high hopes when he arrived from Blackpool ahead of the 2017/18 season.

But manager Lee Clark was sacked that October and his successor, Chris Lucketti, let Aldred leave on loan in

January 2018.

“The plan was to get promoted (to the Championship), and with the players the club were signing, they looked like they were going that way,” said Aldred.

“But there was so much change, I found it really chaotic, and I don’t think anyone came out of that six-month period with any credit.

“By November, December, I knew I needed a change of scenery. I know it came quite soon after signing but I just felt I needed to get out and get some stability back.”

Aldred swiftly became a fans’ favourite at Motherwell and they reached the 2018 Scottish Cup final, losing 2-0 to Celtic in front of almost 50,000 at Hampden.

Bury, meanwhile, were relegated from League One and new boss Ryan Lowe let Aldred head back up north for the 2018/19 season.

“I’d had a taste of the Scottish Premier League and wanted more of it,” said Aldred. “I sat down with the manager on day one of pre-season and told him that and, to be fair, he was great with me.

“I know I’m not a favourite with the Bury fans but they can’t question what I’ve done at Motherwell.

“I’d like to think I was one of the players that went away and proved those people wrong – or right maybe, in the sense they had high expectations of me.

“People were right to ask questions of myself and the other players that were brought in. But some of those players have shown this season how good they

really are.

“I was happy for the boys and everyone involved with the club that they got back into League One. It’s where they deserve to be.”