LIAM Feeney embarked on a fresh start at Ipswich, describing his time at Wanderers as “a long slog.”

The winger, who is out of contract in the summer, joined the Portman Road outfit on loan until the end the season and is hoping to earn a permanent move with Mick McCarthy’s side.

Although he failed to completely win over fans during his two years with the Whites, the 28-year-old has sympathy with the Whites, and in particular former manager Neil Lennon.

“Obviously the situation down at Bolton is not great at the moment, so coming to a side that is pushing for promotion is a positive,” he said. “I’m excited about the opportunity and hopefully I can help out.

“It’s been a long, long slog. It seems that everything that could have gone wrong has gone wrong. I just tried to keep my head up, keep playing well and thankfully the manager here saw that and has given me a chance here.

“It was pretty sad (for Neil Lennon) because he was working with one hand behind his back.

“I felt for him. It was a weird day Tuesday because I found out I was leaving on loan the same hour or two that we found out he was leaving. It was a bit of a crazy day for me, but that’s football.”

Feeney admits the off-the-field issues at Wanderers did make it difficult for players in the squad to concentrate completely on their game.

“Most players would say no, but I think when you look at the teams who have off-the-field problems, most of the time they struggle on the field as well. As players it’s not something we should focus on though,” he said. “There were a couple of issues, a couple of late payments. I’m still owed some money from earlier in the season. Hopefully they get that sorted sooner rather than later and start afresh.”