RE-BORN striker Egil Ostenstad could be charged with the task of leading the line again tomorrow as Rovers return to Premiership action after a two-week absence against Newcastle United.

With Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke currently battling to be fit from hamstring injuries, manager Graeme Souness may once again turn to Ostenstad as the man to fill the breach after netting two goals in his last two appearances.

And Ostenstad freely admits he's as surprised as anyone by the way his circumstances have suddenly changed after his Blackburn career appeared to have reached a dead end.

Barely a month ago, the former Norwegian international feared he had played his last ever Premiership game as he struggled to hold down a place in Rovers' reserves.

But a sudden injury crisis left Souness with no option but to bring the 30-year-old frontman back into the firing line and the way he has subsequently responded to the challenge has sparked talk that he may yet have a future at Ewood.

"I still can't believe I'm playing again because it came totally out of the blue," said Ostenstad, who has made just a handful of first team appearances in the last two years.

"I was nowhere near the first team then I suddenly got told I was starting against Leeds and it's gone from there.

"I'm not sure how long it's going to last but I'm just trying to enjoy myself and take things as they come.

"I haven't played many games for a long time so I'm still suffering from a lack of match fitness and it's going to take time to get my sharpness back.

"But, while I'm in the team, I want to make the most of it and to score a couple of goals again felt fantastic."

Blackburn fans have only ever seen Ostenstad at his best in patches but when he arrived at Ewood, he came with an impressive reputation for scoring goals at the highest level following his time under Souness at Southampton.

During his first season at the Dell, he scored goals by the bucketful and some of the biggest clubs in the land were said to be monitoring his situation closely.

Among them were Newcastle United whose manager at the time, Kenny Dalglish, was repeatedly linked with a £7 million move for the blond-haired assassin before he eventually made the switch to Rovers instead.

"I don't know about the money side of things but at one stage at Southampton I was linked with just about everyone," recalls Ostenstad.

"Because it was such a small club, they were always under pressure to sell people.

"I knew Newcastle were interested but nothing concrete ever came of it. I think Kenny Dalglish was the manager at the time and it was soon after my first season in England.

"To be honest, I didn't pay much attention to it because until a club actually comes in with a firm offer there's nothing to think about.

"But it was certainly flattering to be linked with a big club like that."

Any thoughts of multi-million pound moves could hardly have been further from Ostenstad's mind at the beginning of the current campaign as he found himself languishing in Rovers' reserves.

In fact, his stock had risen to such a low that the club would have allowed him to leave on a free had anyone shown any interest.

In football, out of sight often means out of mind, and the Norwegian had become something of a forgotten man until he suddenly got a call to arms from Souness.

However, with Cole, Yorke and Matt Jansen still to return to the fold, Ostenstad is well aware that his latest reprieve may be just a temporary one.

But while he is back in the limelight, he is determined to seize the opportunity.

"I don't know what the future holds but as long as I'm enjoying myself and I'm made to feel a part of the first team plans, then I'd like to stay here."