MARCUS Antonsson was keen to continue his English adventure after rejecting the chance to return to Sweden in favour of joining Rovers on a season-long loan deal.

The striker joined Rovers from Leeds United and will go in to the squad for this afternoon’s game with Doncaster Rovers (3pm).

A number of sides in his homeland were keen on a move for the 26-year-old, including former club Kalmar FF, but Antonsson admitted it was an easy decision to make the move to Ewood Park when made aware of Rovers’ interest.

“It has been a dream since I was little boy to play in England,” Antonsson said.

“I have been here one year and my situation at Leeds wasn’t the best right now so to come here to Blackburn and continue this trip in England is amazing and I’m really looking forward to it.

“It wasn’t a hard decision to come here.

“I’m really looking forward to this new challenge.

“It’s a very big club and when I first heard Blackburn Rovers, you know it’s a big club and this is a big challenge to go back (to the Championship) straight away.

“That’s we aim for.”

He joined Leeds last summer, after scoring 22 goals in 37 appearances for Kalmar, for a fee in the region of £2million.  However, he struggled for opportunities last season, scoring three times in 21 appearances, and had fallen out of favour under new Leeds boss Thomas Christiansen.

Boss Tony Mowbray had been keen to add more competition in attack, previously having only Danny Graham and Dominic Samuel as senior strikers on the club’s books.

“I have had a period now without so much game-time,” Antonsson told Rovers’ official website.

“Of course I need to compete.  There’s a good squad and some good players here so I know that I need to be at my best but my goal is to play a lot of games and score a lot of goals and help the team back in to the Championship.

“I had a good chat with the gaffer before I came here and I was very clear how I am as a player and he had scouted me before and knows what I can do.

“It was a really good meeting and he wants to use me in the same way that I want to be used on the pitch so it was a really good match.”

The striker came through the ranks at Halmstads BK, the club Rovers signed left-back Markus Olsson from in January 2012.

Antonsson admits to having watched the Premier League as a youngster growing up on Sweden, and followed the careers Olsson twins, Markus and Martin, closely.

He added: “In Sweden we grew up with English football, watching the Premier League and it wasn’t long ago that Blackburn were playing in the Premier League.

“Hopefully in a couple of years we will be back there.

“There have been a couple of Swedish players, I know the Olsson brothers so I watched a couple of games and followed them.”