Liam Bridcutt is enjoying a fairly successful loan spell at League One Bolton Wanderers so far this season, having been allowed to leave the City Ground on a temporary basis.

Bridcutt arrived at the City Ground on a three-year in the summer of 2017 from Leeds United, and the midfielder became a key part of Nottingham Forest’s side under Mark Warburton and then Aitor Karanka during the 2017/18 season, with his reading of the game and quality in possession making him an effective performer in front of the Reds’ back four.

The 30-year-old went onto make 27 Championship appearances for Forest during his first season at the City Ground, but he was unable to help the Reds mount any sort of promotion bid, with Forest ending the campaign in a disappoint 17^th place in the table.

Last season, though, Bridcutt found himself placed far down the midfield pecking order by both Karanka and then Martin O’Neill, with the Reds having the likes of Jack Colback, Claudio Yacob, Adlene Guedioura, Ryan Yates and Ben Watson to call upon at the heart of their midfield, which meant he featured just three times in the League Cup and only once in the league all season.

Lamouchi’s arrival in the summer did little to change that, with the Frenchman bringing in Alfa Semedo, Samba Sow, John Bostock and Tiago Silva – and so the prospects of Bridcutt forcing his way into the side were very skim and he subsequently joined Bolton Wanderers as one of their nine signings on the day of the deadline for the loan window in September.

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The midfielder made an instant impression at Bolton, with his experience on the field vital for Keith Hill’s side as the club look to pull off a remarkable relegation escape having been hit with a points deduction after starting the season in real financial problem.

Bridcutt has so far made six appearances for Bolton in which he has helped to provide extra protection to the back four and quality and composure in possession, but the 30-year-old’s could have made an even bigger impact had he not suffered an injury in the Trotters’ goalless draw at home to Blackpool at the start of October.

However, he made his return from injury last weekend starting for Bolton as they claimed a vital late win against fellow strugglers MK Dons to move onto a positive points tally for the first time this season, and the midfielder could well prove crucial to them picking up some more much-needed wins in the next few weeks.