McShane came close to leaving for home

The 27-year-old joined the Tigers permanently in August 2009, after a successful loan spell the following season.

After Hull dropped back into the Championship three years ago, however, McShane was left on the sidelines as the club tried to slash the wage bill by off-loading as many players as possible.

Loan stints with Barnsley and Crystal Palace followed, but the Republic of Ireland defender fought back and has now been promised a new deal by manager Steve Bruce.

The Tigers’ chief said: “We had a remarkable conversation last summer, when he basically told me that he had never trusted any manager he had worked under.

“All I asked was for him to give me a chance and he will now be the first one I speak to in the next couple of weeks to offer a new contract.”

McShane’s second-half strike against Cardiff was only his third in 98 appearances for the club.

On his unhappy times at the KC before Bruce’s arrival last summer, the defender said: “I have had some really dark days and been close to going home because I felt I wasn’t getting a fair chance.

“Some people at the club wouldn’t talk to me at one stage because I was deemed as a bad egg or something, just because I wasn’t playing.

“Being sent out on loan is cruel and I thought it was unjustified really because I was giving everything to the team and training well and every time I did play I thought I played well and the fans had faith in me.

“I was really contemplating just getting in my car, getting on the boat and going back to Ireland because it was just wall after wall that I kept hitting.

“At the time, I was very angry, but I have put those days behind me and you have got to make peace with the past to go forward.

“I did that at the start of the season and the gaffer gave me a fair crack of the whip and we are now up so that’s all that matters.”

League tables: Page 12.