Blackburn have confirmed that Robbie Fowler has signed a three-month performance-related contract with the club.

The 33-year-old former Liverpool striker, a free agent after leaving Cardiff, had been on trial since mid-July and goes straight into the squad to face Arsenal at Ewood Park tomorrow.

Manager Paul Ince said: "I am pleased he has signed as he is a proven goalscorer. It is not so long ago he was banging in the goals at Anfield. I believe he can still do it at this level. If he does well there is no reason why we can't extend the deal."

Ince, meanwhile, refused to comment on speculation linking him with the managerial vacancy at Newcastle. The former MK Dons manager, who only took up his first Barclays Premier League post in June when he replaced Mark Hughes, has emerged as one of the front-runners to succeed Kevin Keegan at St James' Park.

Ince is a former England team-mate of Dennis Wise, Newcastle's executive director (football), who set him on the road to management by giving him a coaching job during his days in charge at Swindon, but the Blackburn manager would not be drawn on the St James' Park vacancy. "It is flattering to be linked to any club but it is speculation and I do not comment on speculation," he said.