KYLE Dempsey says he can head back to Gillingham this weekend with his head held high.

The former Priestfield skipper joined Wanderers on January transfer deadline day in a protracted deal which went to the very wire.

Ian Evatt had made his interest well-known at the time, and though Dempsey was still leading the Gills on to the field, he had a good idea he would be wearing a Bolton shirt from February onwards.

Neil Harris made one final effort to convince him to stay – but Dempsey insists he gave everything for the Kent club’s cause before deciding to move back north.

Speaking to The Bolton News, the Cumbrian midfielder admitted it was tough to filter out the noise in January with Wanderers’ courtship so public.

“I think it was the repetition of conversations I had to have in the dressing room at the time,” he said. “Me as a player and as a character, I knew the position the club was in and I was trying my hardest to deliver for them on the pitch to try and get us out of that.

“I think all Gillingham fans saw, especially my last game, I delivered a man of the match performance and put my body on the line, which some players probably wouldn’t in the situation I was in – all it takes is one nasty tackle and my move would have been put off.

“So I gave it everything until the very end of my contract there.”

Since signing for Wanderers, Dempsey has made seven appearances, four from the start.

He has also played in a couple of different midfield positions for the Whites, from a deeper-lying number eight to a number 10 behind the front two.

“I like to receive the ball around the halfway line and drive with the ball and bring everyone else into play,” he explained. “I enjoy playing 10, especially in the way this team plays.

“I’m going to be receiving the ball a lot more here and getting in dangerous positions. That’s where I like to execute, from the edge of the box, with the goals and assists I had last year at Gillingham.

“That’s why the manager wanted to bring me in. The conversations I’ve had with him, he wants me to bring that to the team - my energy, my will to fly into the challenges and just to bring the team further up the field.

“I think that’s sort of my main attribute and last year I showed the early signs of my career that I am a goalscoring midfielder. I want to add a lot more goals to my game and especially until the end of the season.”

Dempsey’s father Michael played rugby league professionally for Workington, and the 26-year-old was also offered a route into the sport by Wigan Warriors at the age of 16.

“It was a decision I had to make,” he said. “My dad had watched me and taken me everywhere since I was eight. I went to Wigan Warriors when I was under-14s and represented my country as well.

“It was one of them where I got to 16 and knew I had to make a decision.

“My dad just said, ‘you’re sort of at the top in rugby without making it professional, why don’t you see how far you can get in football?’ I’ve sort of lived by that and I want to get as high up as possible. Hopefully it’s with this club.

“I played stand off so I liked to receive the ball a lot – pretty much similar to football. You get those games where it’s going to be tough and it’s going to be a battle, but nothing really compares to rugby so I’m always up for that.”

Although he still takes a keen interest in the game, and some of his former international and club team-mates who have gone on to play in Super League such as George Williams (Warrington Wolves), Oliver Gildart (ex-Wigan, now with Wests Tigers) and Ryan Hampshire (Wakefield), he does not miss the training regime, or the bumps.

”It is completely different to football in the way in which they train,” he said. “The intensity is there in football but it’s the physical side as well – finishing training sessions and you are sore.

“You don’t really get that in football, obviously you are physically tired. But yeah, it was a choice I had to make and I think I made the right decision for my body and my looks as well!”

Dempsey says he has settled well in Bolton and has quickly identified a winning mentality in the group which matches his own.

“The lads want to win as many games as possible and try and get up the table into the play-offs,” he said. “That obviously fits me down to a tee because anything I do, I want to be the best at. Even if it’s the most stupid thing, I want to come first.

“That’s sort of what I bring to this group, and communication as well – I’ll bring a lot of that to the team. I’m just going to try and help as much as I can until the end of the season to help us get as high up as we can.”