KEVIN McNaughton is hoping his next move in football will be significantly more successful than his last.

After last season’s loan at Wanderers was wrecked by injury the Scottish defender finds himself searching for a new club for the first time in his professional career following his release at Cardiff City.

Twelve months ago, the loan seemed a precursor to a permanent move. McNaughton had been a hit on loan the previous season and when he linked up with the Whites in Sweden it looked as if Dougie Freedman had finally found a solution to the club’s problematic right-back role.

He moved his family to Bolton, pregnant wife and all, in what looked like the perfect fit. But a string of injuries restricted him to just eight starts and ended any hope of a deal.

McNaughton is now reviewing his options and close to making a full recovery from the broken leg he suffered against Reading in March.

And speaking to The Bolton News, the 32-year-old hopes his run of bad luck at the Macron this season is now at an end.

“I’ve never seen anything like the injuries that happened at Bolton last season,” he said. “Not just me – but how many others?

“They definitely affected the club’s form. You just can’t cope with that many players being out all at once.

“But for me it was a nightmare. I’m still waiting to see what happens next. I just want to play.

“I’ve had a few clubs ask me to come down and prove my fitness but, to be honest, I feel like I can still play at Championship level and earn something outright.

“Scotland is an option. I’ve got to be relatively open to anything because I want to carry on.

“But with having a young family – my kids are in school here – if something came up that was relatively local I’d want to take a look at it.”

McNaughton struggled with a hamstring problem at the start of the season and featured just three times after Lennon arrived in October before sitting out the next four months of Championship football.

Lennon questioned his conditioning, prompting a wave of headlines, but the Scot bounced back immediately with an impressive performance off the bench against Brighton and then a start in the next game against Reading.

McNaughton admits he sought an explanation from his boss after seeing his fitness called into question conceded that the raft of loanees in the squad at that time meant the Northern Irishman’s hands were somewhat tied.

“Someone sent me a message to say I was in the paper,” he said. “I read it and phoned the manager.

“He said it wasn’t quite the point he wanted to put across and that he wanted me to get involved more – and felt I didn’t have the right match fitness.

“It was a bit funny because I can only really get that when I’m in the team.

“It was difficult because only five loans could play at any one time and there were definitely lads sat out of the squad who should have been involved.”

Back in the starting line-up against the Royals, McNaughton was looking forward to his chance to cement a place under the new manager – only for a freak accident involving Reading defender Jordan Obita to end his season prematurely.

“I felt sharp. I was ready to get back out and play,” he said. “But when it happened I didn’t think it was that bad. It was just a kick. I even tried to walk it off a bit, which was probably a bad idea.

“It turned out to be a fractured fibula and I ended up getting an operation in London to put a plate in there.

“It just about summed up the season. I knew that was the end for me from there but to be fair to Bolton, they’ve been great, they’ve looked after me, and allowed me to use their facilities because it would have been a lot of to-ing and fro-ing to get to Cardiff.

“I’ve had a little break but been in most days. I’m just getting to the more intense stuff now and I should be ready to go.

“I’m about a week to 10 days away now, about 90 per cent of the way there.”