WANDERERS' bid to sign last year's Player of the Year Tommy Doherty could be derailed because he is stuck in a foreign hospital.

The QPR midfielder, who spent much of last season on loan at Wycombe, is stuck in the Bahamas after having an emergency operation to remove his appendix.

A spokesman for his agents Clarke Willmott said: "He is still in hospital. He is due to fly back on Saturday but he might not be allowed. We don't know when he will return. He might not be allowed to fly for a while because of the risk of deep vein thrombosis."

When he returns it is thought he will then need six to eight weeks to rehabilitate before he can start pre-season training - ruling him out of the big kick off.

Wanderers' league season starts on August 11 and before then manager Paul Lambert will want to test his squad in pre-season action.

Lambert is keen to land the former Northern Ireland ace on a full-time basis but has struggled to thrash out a deal with Rangers.

Rangers are happy to let him go but Loftus Road chairman Gianni Paladini told the Daily Mirror earlier this season that he wants £100,000 for his want-away out-of-favour player.

Meanwhile last year's captain Tommy Mooney is still unsigned.

The 35-year-old has been stalling on a new deal because he wanted to see proof of the club's ambition in the summer transfer market first.

Wanderers have shown that with seven signings.

Mooney, who has been in Dubai this week, has left it to his agent to talk to the club this week and says he will make a decision by midweek.

He says his main priority is to carry on playing but he has made no secret that coaching interests him.

He said: "Coaching is a natural progression. It's something that I want to get into but I want to do that alongside playing. I haven't spoken to anyone about a direct coaching role but I would hope to gain some coaching experience.