Adam Le Fondre was one of Wanderers' heroes against Nottingham Forest on the final day in 2018 - but the forward has revealed that he nearly wasn't playing.

It was a memorable day for Bolton fans as Phil Parkinson's side defied the odds to stay in the Championship thanks to Aaron Wilbraham's late header.

Le Fondre - who scored the opener and also set up Wilbraham's winner - confirmed he had offers to go out on loan earlier that season but had decided to fight for his place after Gary Madine was sold to Cardiff.

He had struggled to nail down a place in the side during the first half of the campaign but kept belief that he could be the main man in attack.

“We didn’t have a great squad but we had great comradery, we knew we weren’t going to be pretty on the eye,” Le Fondre told I Had Trials Once Podcast.

“We lost to Leeds and drew at Millwall, then I was out of the team until Christmas apart from the cup.

“I was on the bench, coming on now and then, and my head was spinning. I was thinking, ‘I can’t do anything’. I was never getting a chance.”

The 37-year-old added: “At the end of that window I nearly went to Bradford or Scunthorpe on loan, both of them tried to get me.

“I was like, ‘If Gaz is going, I want to stay because I back myself to play here’. We played Reading away and (Phil Parkinson) came up to me on the coach and said, ‘You are going to play, enjoy yourself’.

“I was buzzing, I scored and probably should have had a hat trick. I played a lot for the next 10 games and scored four of five goals.”

There was another twist, with Le Fondre almost left out of the squad against Forest following a row with Parkinson.

The confrontation began after a mix-up in the dressing room during the defeat at Burton a week prior, and things escalated when the forward was told he wouldn’t be starting on the final day.

Le Fondre recalled: “He pulled me aside and said, ‘Are you going to be alright?’. He wasn’t sure if he was going to put me on the bench, but I told him I wanted to play.

“I had a lot of things riding on it, I cared about it. The game unfolded how it did, I came off the bench to score.

“It was such an open game, Brereton Diaz up top probably could have had a hat trick. Alby (Aaron Wilbraham) could have had a couple.

“They go 2-1 up and we were dead and buried, we had Wheats (David Wheater) up top with me and Alby. Wheats scores and there was a glimmer (of hope), the results were going for us.

“Mark Howard zinged one low a anything, flicked on and I ran in behind. I put it into an area, great movement from Alby, header, goal. They were the maddest scenes ever!

“I ran off on my own, all my family were there. The game finishes and everyone is on (the pitch). I can’t explain the feeling!”

The striker says he still gets goosebumps when he watches the match back and insists it was one of the highlights of his career to date.

“We didn’t win anything but I was sat in the dressing room with Jem (Karacan) afterwards,” he said.

“I had been promoted with him to the Championship and League One. We were like, ‘What has just happened? What have we just done?’

“It was incredible, we were dead and buried. It was definitely (one of my best moments). I could watch it again and still get goosebumps!"