Newcastle striker Adam Armstrong reunites with Tony Mowbray for Blackburn loan deal

Newcastle United forward Adam Armstrong hopes reuniting with Tony Mowbray will reignite his career after joining League One promotion hopefuls Blackburn Rovers for the second half of the 2017-18 season.

The 20-year-old was recalled from an unspectacular spell at Bolton Wanderers last week after netting just three goals in 23 appearances in all competitions at the Macron Stadium.

But instead of re-integrating him into a first team squad which might be short on fresh faces during the January transfer window, Newcastle have opted to send him out on his fourth loan spell in three seasons.

With his career having stalled somewhat following a haul of just six goals in the whole of last season at Barnsley in the Championship, Armstrong will hope he can recapture the form he showed under Mowbray while at Coventry City in the 2015-16 term.

Flying the nest from boyhood club Newcastle for the first time three years ago, Armstrong netted 20 goals in League One for the Sky Blues and aims to repeat that success under Mowbray at Ewood Park.

"I knew Tony from Coventry," Armstrong, who has made 21 senior appearances for Newcastle in his career, told Blackburn's official website.

"It worked well with him and his backroom staff. I know what he's all about and know what a good manager he is. I've had a chat with him and I can't wait to get started here.

"I was only a young kid when I was at Coventry, he really helped me and we were pretty successful together there, with the season going well.

"After Coventry I thought I'd go back to Newcastle and maybe not see Tony again. But you know what football's like and it's come round again with the two of us."

Armstrong will go straight into the squad for Blackburn's key clash with fellow-promotion contenders Shrewsbury Town on Saturday [13 January] and hopes to make an immediate impression as Rovers eye a return to the second tier.

"It would be something special, getting promoted to the Championship," the England Under-20 World Cup winner added. "That's where the club deserves to be, if not higher, and that's what we'll all be trying to achieve this season."

Confirmation of the move represents Newcastle's first activity in a January window which while it is expected to include further outgoings could be short on incomings due to a lack of investment being afforded to manager Rafael Benitez.

With Amanda Staveley's proposed takeover of the north east club having stalled, current owner Mike Ashley appears unwilling to give Benitez significant funds to improve the squad having declared his intent to sell the club.