OWEN Coyle fears it may be too tall an order for Gavin McCann to salvage his Wanderers career.

The Bolton boss has given the out-of-contract midfielder an open invitation to join the squad in pre-season training, once he recovers from a major operation to cure a long-standing ankle problem.

McCann had featured in Coyle’s first two games in charge, and while the manager feels he owes the 32-year-old a chance to prove his fitness when then players return to duty at the start of next month, he believes it will be a tough task for the one-time England international to return so quickly.

“He has obviously had terrible problems,” he said. “It is such a serious injury that it is going to take a great deal of effort to come back from it, and play at this level.

“But I have told Gavin that when he is fit again, that he can come in and we’ll take a look at where he is at.

“He is the only player who is out of contract for me this summer but I thought that it was the fair route of action to take for him.

“He started very well for me, and so I felt we had to give him an opportunity to earn a new contract.”

McCann has not played since January, and has since been linked with a move to recently-relegated Burnley.

Despite being a regular in his first two seasons after a £1million move from Aston Villa, the combative ball-winner was restricted to just five Premier League starts last season after losing his midfield spot to Tamir Cohen in September.