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Taylor Joins Blackburn - Ipswich Town News

Striker Paul Taylor has joined Blackburn Rovers on loan until the end of the season having spent time on trial at Ewood Park. Town settled the 27-year-old's contract earlier in the year but he remained registered to the Blues in order to facilitate a loan move elsewhere.

"He's been with us a couple of weeks," Rovers boss Gary Bowyer told Blackburn’s official site. "We were just having a look at him in training and he did well.

"He's got fantastic ability on the ball, he can score and create goals so we are hoping that he comes and adds that to our attacking force."

Taylor remained registered to the Blues despite having had his contract settled as he would have been unable to sign for another club on a permanent basis if his registration had been released as that would have contravened the FIFA rule preventing players from being with more than two sides in a season.

However, with the Blues still holding his registration Taylor was able to join another club on loan, which is within the rules.

Taylor says he's keen to get back into action after a frustrating spell: "I just want to get started playing football. I haven't played a competitive game for two months now, so now I've got the opportunity to play football and express myself.

"I've been doing a lot of training and a lot of running, but it isn't anything like match fitness, so as soon as I start playing the better.

"I'll try my hardest here at Blackburn, hopefully catch the eye of the gaffer and staff and hopefully get a contract in the summer.

"This is the biggest club I've been to with the history and everything about it. The facilities, the training ground facilities, everything is just brilliant. It is the club that I want to be with."

Taylor, who never returned to Town after ending his loan spell with Rotherham in January, was understood to be the club’s highest-earning player on around £10,000 a week and was out of contract at the end of the season.

The Liverpudlian joined the Blues from Peterborough in the summer of 2012 for an initial fee of £1.5 million, which could ultimately have risen to £2.5 million.

He made only nine starts and 16 sub appearances for Town, scoring one goal, and missed almost a year of football due to a toe injury.

Taylor will be ineligible for Town's final day of the season game against Blackburn at Ewood Park. He is not available for the FA Cup quarter-final replay against Liverpool but would be for the semi-final and final.

Elsewhere, Town are reported, not overly convincingly, to have been one of nine clubs to make an unsuccessful loan approach for Leicester striker Tom Lawrence.

Kelly Youga, Mick McCarthy's first Town signing back in November 2012 but who left after two months without playing a game, has joined Crawley Town on a deal to the end of the season.

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