Blackburn Rovers coach Owen Coyle has confirmed that the club are closing to signing former Sunderland and Manchester United centre-back Wes Brown.

The 36-year-old has been without a club since the summer after the Black Cats failed to offer him a new deal. He started training with the Championship side earlier in the summer but he suffered a calf injury that halted his pre-season.

However, the former England international has now recovered from the issue and is ready to sign a contract in the coming days according to Coyle.

The former Bolton coach told Sky Sports: “Wes has obviously been training with us and is now fully fit. “He’s been outstanding.

He’s a constant professional – his attitude has been exemplary around the training ground with the young players, helping and encouraging them.

“He’s trained the last four or five weeks, played a number of U23 games and done very well. We’ll have a chat and hopefully we might have some positive news on that in the next couple of days.

“He would certainly add to our group. He’s shown his quality in the games he’s played and I think he’s still got a lot to offer as a player.”

Blackburn, 1.91 to be relegated, will be hoping that Brown can make an immediate impact after their dismal start to the season.

They were dumped out of the EFL Cup by Leeds United on Tuesday and they currently sit 23rd in the Championship table after winning just one of their eight games.