Sky Bet Championship: Chris Eagles hopes to play major role at Blackpool

Chris Eagles hopes to play a major role with Blackpool after turning down rival offers to join the club until January.

The former Manchester United and Burnley winger has been out of the game since being released by Bolton, whom he last played for in February, over the summer.

Lee Clark's bottom-of-the-table Seasiders have decided to take a punt on Eagles, 29, and in an ironic twist he could make his debut against Wanderers at Bloomfield Road this weekend.

"I had offers from elsewhere but I believe they're going to rely on me and I wanted to be relied upon," Eagles told Blackpool's official website.

"I want them to trust me to do my thing and that's what I wanted.

"It's going to take me a few games to get my fitness because I've not played since the beginning of February.

"I like the manager, and I like the players and I'm sure the fans, given time, will gel to me."

Clark is hopeful that Eagles can inject some life into his attacking ranks, with Blackpool having scored just 11 times in 17 league games to date.

"He's a big player in the Championship, a very exciting player," the ex-Birmingham boss added.

"We believe he will give us some quality going forward in the attacking areas.

"He will excite the team, he will excite the fans. Obviously he's a player that hasn't played too much but we'll get him up to the required fitness levels and think he'll be an exciting player for us."