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Stokes: "Will try to really kick on this season."
Stokesy

Hibs cup hero Anthony Stokes set to test himself in the Championship

Ireland international joins Blackburn Rovers on a three-year deal.

IRISH INTERNATIONAL ANTHONY Stokes is back in English football after signing for Blackburn Rovers on a free transfer.

Stokes, who was released by Celtic at the end of last season, has agreed a three-year deal at Ewood Park.

The 27-year-old becomes the first signing for Owen Coyle, and Stokes admitted that his first impression of the new Rovers boss helped to seal the deal.

“I had a good chat with the gaffer during the week and was very impressed with him,” Stokes told the club’s official website.

He had only positive things to say about me and I’m just looking forward to bedding in, getting a good pre-season under my belt, and just looking forward to the start of the season.

“For myself, having a manager that believes in me gives me a lot of confidence and as a striker you need that, but it’s going to be down to how I perform. So I’ll need to put in the hard work, try to get a good pre-season under my belt and really kick on this season.”

The move marks Stokes’ return to English football for the first time since leaving Sunderland to join Hibernian in the summer of 2009.

After spending six years at Celtic, he returned to Hibs on loan in January and scored twice in last month’s Scottish Cup final against Rangers, helping the Easter Road side lift the trophy for the first time in 114 years.

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