KEVIN McNaughton has his eyes on the future after putting a “nightmare season” at Wanderers behind him.

The Scottish full-back had a loan spell from Cardiff City wrecked by injury, effectively ending any chance of him signing full-time for the Whites.

A move looked nailed-on when Dougie Freedman brought him to the Macron last summer to replace the outgoing Alex Baptiste.

But after a succession of hamstring problems, which led to Neil Lennon questioning the defender’s fitness, McNaughton then suffered a broken leg just as it looked like he had worked his way back into the manager’s plans.

McNaughton remains in the North West with his family and has maintained a good relationship with the club, who have helped in his rehab.

But with his contract at Cardiff up in the summer, the 32-year-old admits he does not know what his next step will be.

“It’s been a bit of a nightmare season for me, finishing with a broken leg,” he said.

“It’s nobody’s fault, but things didn’t work out for me.

“I suffered a fractured fibula at the beginning of March, but my recovery is going really well.

“I’ll be working on my fitness over the summer and will be ready to go, wherever I am, when pre-season starts.

“I badly want to keep playing, though, and I’ll see what comes up.”

Cardiff’s longest-serving player, McNaughton is planning talks with Bluebirds boss Russell Slade to see if he still has a future in South Wales.

Adam Le Fondre will also find out whether he will be sold in the summer as Slade speaks with 15 players sent out on loan this season.

McNaughton ended a five-month stint out of the Bolton team when he started against Reading in March, only to see his season ended prematurely after catching a boot from Reading winger Jonathan Obita.

“It was a kick, not a massive challenge,” he told Wales Online.

“My weight was on that leg and I knew something wasn’t right, but at that stage I didn’t think it was serious.

“The x-rays showed a fracture and I had an operation pretty quickly. That was six or seven weeks ago now and I am well on the mend.

“Cardiff’s medical department will check me over when I go to see the manager and then I will be able to start looking to the future.”