NEIL Lennon has revealed how agonisingly close he came to re-signing fan-favourite Adam Le Fondre.

Last season’s top scorer was desperate to return to the Macron Stadium in the summer but with Cardiff City asking £1million to loan the striker for the season, the cash-strapped Whites were forced to admit defeat.

Lennon will face Le Fondre for the first time this afternoon as he makes his full Championship debut for Wolves.

And the Wanderers boss admits there will be a tinge of regret when he sees the 28-year-old’s name on the team-sheet.

“It would have been nice to have him on board,” he told The Bolton News. “He made a big contribution last year and he was very popular with the supporters as well.

“We tried – hard – but it was just a case of finances in the end; that was the only thing stopping it.

“We worked on it, hoped that maybe we’d find something else, but it wasn’t to be.”

Le Fondre scored Wolves’ winner at Charlton in his last appearance, as a substitute, but is likely to be set loose from the start today by Kenny Jackett today after a season-ending injury to Nouha Dicko.

His contract with Cardiff still has 12 months to run but it is understood that Wolves have the option of buying that out at the end of this season.

If they pass up on that opportunity, Lennon has not ruled out the idea of bringing him to Bolton again.

“Obviously I’ll keep my eye on him,” he said. “He definitely enjoyed his time here and I don’t think he made any secret of the fact he wanted to come back.

“It’s unfortunate that we couldn’t get the deal done – but we have to move on now.

“He hasn’t had much football of late but he’ll be buzzing after scoring at Charlton. It was a good goal as well, his movement was superb.

“That’s what he does. He’s a player I’ve admired for a long, long time.

“But we’ve been defending especially well of late so I don’t have any concerns on that front.”

While Le Fondre will get a good reception from the Wanderers fans today, Lennon does not want the cordiality to extend to his players.

“For 90 minutes we won’t be very friendly at all,” he said. “I’ll shake his hand after we’ve won.”