OLYMPIAKOS striker Yiannis Okkas will not be joining Blackburn Rovers in the January transfer window.

The Cypriot international, who was due to start a week-long trial with Rovers next week, has been told by his Greek employers that he will not be allowed to leave this month.

As a result, next week's trial has now been scrapped and Rovers have no immediate plans to arrange another one for the 29-year-old, who first impressed manager Mark Hughes during a pre-season friendly last summer.

"Olympiakos have got some important games coming up and they want him to stay and play in those," said Rovers' chairman John Williams today.

Hughes was keen to take a closer look at Okkas, who is out of contract in the summer, but a change of head coach at Olympiakos, where Takis Lemonis has replaced Trond Sollied, now seems to have scuppered those plans for the foreseeable future at least.