Stephen Pearson is back at Motherwell with the hope of enjoying yet another Indian Summer in his long career, after enjoying an Indian winter once again in the first half of the season.

But he was keen to point out that he is not just back in the rather chillier climes of Lanarkshire just to top up his pension pot.

Pearson revealed that Fir Park assistant manager James McFadden had been bending his ear about returning to the club where it all began for him for a third time, but the feeling is that it was not a particularly hard sell.

Whether he goes back to India again or not at the end of his short-term deal at Motherwell remains to be seen, but when you listen to his experiences of Calcutta, it’s easy to see its allure.

“I’ve not thought that far ahead,” he said. “My focus now is on Motherwell until the summer and then we’ll assess things.

“I thoroughly enjoyed it [in India]. It was different to the first year, a different team, different set-up but I had a good experience, managed to play a lot of games and managed to win the Indian Super League which was nice.

“To go out there and come back with something which proves you did well was pleasing.

“Sourav Ganguly owns the club I was at alongside the financial owners. Sachin Tendulkar is involved in the club we played in the final.

“A lot of the teams there are owned by cricket players, sportsmen or people involved in Bollywood.

“There are quite a few foreign players out in India now. The main marquee signing was probably Diego Forlan, who played for Mumbai.

“Each team is allowed one marquee player so they always try and get the best one they can. It wasn’t me at Kolkata! Unfortunately not. Our marquee player was Helder Postiga, the Portuguese striker who was at Spurs.

“It’s now back to basics at the Well but I am looking forward to it. The club had a brilliant result in midweek. There is a tough run of fixtures coming up but hopefully we can kick on.

“I’ve known Faddy a long time and we’ve always kept in touch. He was interested in how I was doing out in India and made it clear they wanted me back.

“It was quite an easy decision to make, obviously with the amount of people I know at the club already.

“Even when I left in the summer, I went hoping myself for a return, as did the club. I’m delighted to be here and hopefully now I can help the club push up the table.”

The lunchtime clash with Hearts may come too soon for Pearson after a significant lay-off from competitive action, although the absence of Scott McDonald through suspension may tempt Mark McGhee to lean on the experience of the midfielder.

“I finished up on the 19th of December, so I’ve had quite a bit of time off, six weeks in total,” he said.

“I’ve done a few bits and bobs over the January period, obviously it’s different to training day-to-day with the lads, so I’ve still got a bit to catch up on.

“But hopefully it won’t take me long to get back up to speed.

“Is it too early for me to be involved? I’ll leave that with the gaffer. We’ll see how it goes.”