OWEN Coyle is excited about the prospect of Rovers fans having a proper look at ‘outstanding’ Liam Feeney after getting a brief glimpse of his talents two years ago.

The 29-year-old signed a two-year deal over the weekend after choosing Rovers ahead of offers from clubs including Ipswich Town, where he spent the second half of last season on loan from Bolton Wanderers.

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If it all works out, he’s got the option of a further 12 months.

Feeney spent a short spell on loan at Ewood Park towards the end of the 2013-14 season, managing one start and five substitute appearances.

But Coyle – who has already added five players to his ranks this summer – reckons he will have a much bigger impact this time round.

The manager said: “It’s fair to say we beat off a lot of competition to get Liam to the club and I’m delighted.

“He came in on loan for six games (in 2013-14).

“If you come in on loan for six months, people have a chance to get a proper look at you.

“To come in for a month, four or five games or whatever it was, of course people have an opinion of you and I have no problem with that.

“What I do know is that Liam Feeney is now an outstanding player. Liam Feeney was the desire of many clubs in the Championship.

“I think Ipswich had put a very good deal to him and, contrary to popular reports, we never outbid anybody.

“Liam had offers at different clubs and he wanted to come on board with what we have here.

“He knows the facilities, he knows the club, and I think we had a good chat here and I gave him an outline on how we want to go about it.”

Feeney was out of contract at the Macron Stadium, where he made 88 appearances and scored eight goals for a club in turmoil and tumbling towards League One.

And Coyle’s contacts at his former club made it clear to the new Rovers manager that former Bournemouth and Millwall speedster Feeney was an exciting prospect.

“Obviously I still have a number of friends who watched all the Bolton games last year, and I know they had a difficult season,” said Coyle.

“But Liam was by far and away their best player, culminating in so many chances they were putting across.

“If they’d had people who could have finished last year it would have resulted in many, many goals.

“He now has a maturity to his play, he has real pace to burn.

“We’re delighted to get somebody who has real pace and can get behind defenders.

“He’s very honest, he works up and down.

“You’ve seen how fit he is and I think he’ll be a tremendous addition for Blackburn Rovers.”