WANDERERS appear set to extend Alan Hutton’s loan from Aston Villa after giving up on Leeds United defender Lee Peltier yesterday.

Dougie Freedman is confident he can extend a deal for the Scotland international, who has steadily improved since his arrival from Villa Park, by the close of business at 5pm today.

“There is a bit of movement,” he told The Bolton News. “We have spoken to Aston Villa and asked them what their thoughts are.

“If they come up with the right structure for the deal then hopefully all parties will agree to him staying.”

But it appears Peltier faces a difficult return to Elland Road despite coming agonisingly close to signing for Wanderers for the rest of the season.

It is not yet apparent whether the Whites’ tight financial situation or FA red tape was to blame for the 27-year-old’s U-turn, but sources at the Reebok yesterday were saying there was little chance of resurrecting the deal.

Peltier is stuck in an awkward situation after half-completing a loan move to Nottingham Forest on Monday.

Neil Warnock had teed-up the defender for a move as he prepared to step into the vacant manager’s job at the City Ground, but a late change of heart left Peltier in limbo.

Freedman was then offered his services for the rest of the season and on Tuesday night was waiting for word from the Football Association about exactly where the player’s registration lay.

“He was going to sign for Nottingham Forest and signed some of the parts of the contracts that were available,” Freedman explained. “There was some confusion because someone (Warnock) ended up not going to Nottingham Forest and that held some more things back from Forest’s end. He was then offered around to a few different clubs.

“I am a fan of Lee Peltier, blatantly, and I have enquired about the situation. But as we speak the situation is with the Football Association, with all the paperwork.”

Had both loan deals been finalised it would have presented Wanderers with a selection quandary for the remainder of the season.

Wanderers currently have five loan players on their books, with Hutton joining Liam Trotter, Neil Danns, Lukas Jutkiewicz and Joe Mason.

League rules state only five can be named in a matchday squad and though both Trotter and Danns are believed to have signed pre-contracts that will kick in automatically in the summer, they are currently officially viewed as loans by the Football League.

Freedman will have Alex Baptiste available for this weekend’s home clash with Wigan Athletic but it remains to be seen what damage the defender did to his first-team chances with his poor performance at Yeovil last weekend.

The former Blackpool man was forced to sit out Tuesday’s game against his former club Blackpool after picking up a soft red card in the 2-2 draw at Huish Park, incurring his manager’s wrath after the final whistle.

Freedman revealed Matt Mills hads suffered a minor problem in his comeback from a knee injury and as such he would be looking for extra defensive cover for the rest of the campaign.

“I think we need one more defender. As you’ve seen, if one gets sent off like Alex Baptiste, then we’re really up against it,” he said.

“Matt Mills had a little setback, wasn’t feeling 100 per cent comfortable in training yesterday, so we can’t risk it.”