BLACKBURN Rovers have taken out-of-contract Dunfermline Athletic striker Faissal El Bakhtaoui on trial.

The 23-year-old scored 30 goals in 41 appearances to fire Dunfermline to the Scottish League One title last season.

But El Bakhtaoui has yet to sign a new deal with the Pars and will now aim to prove to Rovers boss Owen Coyle he can make the step up from the third tier of Scottish football to the English Football League Championship.

Coyle, himself a former Dunfermline forward, said: “I feel if you’re bringing a player in on trial it’s on the basis they might be bring you something different.

“So on that basis we have a young player joining us, who has played in Scotland, called Faissal El Bakhtaoui.

“He has played for Dunfermline in Scottish League One and done very well. I think he scored 31 goals in 70-odd league games for them so that shows he’s a natural goalscorer.

“But the judgement will be whether he can play at the level of the Championship.

“But it doesn’t do us any harm to look at the kid. He’s willing and he was very excited by the opportunity to come and train at Blackburn Rovers, which he’ll do.

“He’s also probably get involved with a couple of pre-season games and then we’ll take it from there.”

El Bakhtaoui, who is of French-Moroccan descent, was named the Scottish League One player of the year last season and has been tracked by Motherwell, Aberdeen and Hibs.