AMARI’I Bell says his ambitions match those of Rovers after agreeing a permanent switch to Ewood Park.

Rovers’ near month-long pursuit of the 23-year-old ended yesterday when he signed a two-and-a-half year deal, joining for an undisclosed fee.

But the left back, who was out of contract in the summer, will not be able to feature in this afternoon’s game against his former club.

Bell joins a Rovers side who two points shy of the automatic promotion spots and having been part of the Fleetwood squad who missed out in the play-offs last term, he’s determined to finish the job this time around.

He said: “Blackburn is a massive club. When I heard there was interest I was thrilled.

“Our ambitions match and it was a simple decision. It’s hard to say no to a club like this.

“Some will say they are too big a club to be in this league.

“They want to go up and keep progressing and that’s exactly what I want to do with my career.

“I have played League One for a few seasons now but I’m very ambitious and want to test myself at a higher level and we can do it together.”

Boss Mowbray has been keen to add competition to Derrick Williams at left-back, with last year’s player of the season having started all of Mowbray’s 41 league matches in charge.

Bell has featured in every league game for Fleetwood this season and has made 137 appearances in all since joining from Birmingham City in 2015.

His arrival comes in the week that Rovers allowed youngster Sam Hart to join League One side Rochdale on loan until the end of the season.

The deal has been some time in the making, and Bell added: “It’s been lingering for a while so I’m over the moon to get it all sorted.

“I’ve tried to focus on playing and believing that if I can continue doing what I’m doing then everything will get sorted.

“That’s exactly what’s happened and I’m delighted to be here now.”

Bell has continued to play for Fleetwood while the two clubs have agreed a fee, believed to be in the region of £300,000.

He becomes Rovers’ fourth deal of the January window, having made Paul Downing’s loan move from MK Dons permanent, as well as bringing in Jack Payne and Adam Armstrong from Huddersfield Town and Newcastle Untied respectively.

The full-back knows he faces a tough task to get in to the starting line-up, given Rovers’ strength in depth and unbeaten run, but is ready to put in the hard yards

“The boss has told me the team is a great bunch that’s going places and want to get out of this league,” he added.

“That’s in sync with my aims and I’m happy to be on board.

“The team are flying right now so I need to knuckle down, work hard and help the team.

“The team have been on a good streak with some very good results. If we can keep on doing that then we’ll be fine this season.”