Having taken his former Liverpool and England team-mate Robbie Fowler on trial at Blackburn Rovers, manager Paul Ince believes the legendary striker can still produce the goods at the top level.
Ince will be giving Fowler every chance to prove that as the Anfield idol - who rejected a two-year contract on offer from Cardiff City - ties to win a deal with Rovers.
Although Ince is offering Fowler no guarantees, he is confident the 33-year-old marksman will justify his faith.
Fowler was given playing time for Rovers against TSG Hoffenheim, after which Ince told the Lancashire Evening Telegraph: “People have said he’s past it, but when you see the runs he makes, he beats his opponent by five or six yards, and if we can find him with our passes then he’s going to score goals.
“That was his first game in eight months so you’ve got to take that into account, and he will get sharper.
“He’ll never lose those runs and that movement, and in the next couple of weeks he’ll get sharper and sharper, which is when we’ll start to see the best of Robbie Fowler.”
Ince also spoke about Ecuadorian Segundo Castillo, who is also hoping to win a contract at Blackburn after joining Ince's squad.
“He’s trained with us,” said Ince. “He had a 20-hour flight to get here so it was hard to really analyse him, or have an opinion on him after the first day of training.
“But we’ve got the chance to have a closer look at him, and then we’ll go from there. I’m sure he’s good enough to play at this level but you don’t just buy players on people’s hearsay.”
