DOUGIE Freedman has admitted he made mistakes during his time as Wanderers manager.

But he believes the experience will stand him in good stead in his new job as boss of Championship rivals Nottingham Forest.

Freedman left Wanderers in October with the club second bottom of the Championship, having won just one of their first 10 games.

In two years with Bolton the Scot struggled to win over fans and gain consistency with results as he underwent a massive rebuilding process at the club.

But after being installed as the successor to Stuart Pearce just hours after the latter left the City Ground on Sunday, the Scot now faces the task of turning round Forest’s season under the shadow of a transfer embargo.

“We have all made mistakes, we have all done things we look back on in a different light,” he said, at his first press conference. “I am a young coach with great experience in the Championship. I am not saying I am a miracle worker.

“I am sitting here saying that I have gained huge experience in a short space of time, working at two different clubs in Palace and Bolton.

“When I went to Bolton we were in a worse position than we are in here, but we turned them around and got them into the play-off reckoning.

“Then it became a club where I had to work differently and put my business hat on, we had to make some very tough decisions. The debt was huge and we had to make tough decisions over good players who had been there for a long time.

“It was difficult for a young coach. But I had to do it for the sake of the club. I had to keep that in mind the whole time.

“We had to make tough decisions and we had to make sure the financial state of the club was in order. We had to make sure the club was run right, while bringing young players through.

“We are seeing those players coming through now, but I am not there, unfortunately, to oversee that.

“It was a great experience and I have learned from two jobs.”

Freedman was tasked with halving the wage bill at Wanderers under the spectre of Financial Fair Play – a task he achieved by the time he left the club.

But on the pitch his results suffered badly and rumour of disquiet in the dressing room, particularly with his methodical tactical approach to football, eventually meant a parting of the ways.

The 40-year-old released the likes of Kevin Davies, Martin Petrov and Chris Eagles during his time with the Whites, and was criticised for failing to bring on younger players at the club.

But he defended his time in the North West, saying his actions had helped to ensure the club did not slip into League One.

“I had to work extremely hard at Bolton, but you have to do that in any walk of life,” he said.

“I knew the decisions were right for the football club, even if they were not right for the team.

“We worked very hard to make sure the club did not go the way that some clubs – Wolves for example – do, when they come down from the Premier League.

“We wanted to stabilise and make sure we did not go down that path.”

Freedman will host Wanderers on February 21 at the City Ground but kicks off his time in the East Midlands with a trip to Brighton this weekend.

Forest are level on points with Bolton as things stand, yet Freedman refuses to rule out a late run to make the play-offs as he very nearly managed to achieve with Wanderers from an identical position in his first season at the Reebok Stadium.

“When you are Nottingham Forest manager you cannot answer ‘no’ to that question. If anyone does say no to it, they should not be sitting here,” he said.

“Of course we can. Yes we can. But I am realistic. I am looking over my shoulder. I need to be clear about that, because we need to win matches.

“In the summer, I can look at things and say that we might need this or that; that we might need strengthening here and here – but if we do, we have a fantastic chance.

“I cannot sit here and say that we cannot win promotion, as Nottingham Forest manager.”