Scott Sinclair has revealed his delight at making a return to Bristol Rovers with the experienced winger signing a short-term deal until January.
Sinclair was out of contract following the expiry of his deal at Preston North End in the summer and after proving his fitness at The Quarters over the last fortnight has signed a deal in north Bristol and will wear the No7 shirt this season.
The 33-year-old is a product of the Rovers academy but only made two substitute appearances for the club during the 2004/05 season before being signed by Premier League giants Chelsea when he was just 16.
Talks with the veteran took place last month but after negotiations had initially stalled, further conversations were conducted in October with an agreement reached over the weekend in the wake of Rovers’ 4-1 win over Cheltenham Town.
Sinclair is not available for tonight’s Papa John’s Trophy tie at the Mem against Swindon Town but will be in contention for the squad to face Plymouth Argyle in League One this Saturday.
"I'm delighted to back at the place where my career began,” Sinclair said. “I've been training for a couple of weeks and The Quarters is certainly very different to where we trained when I was younger! I've always wanted to come back to the club to give back what they've given me at the start of my footballing journey."
Sinclair, who has amassed 508 career appearances over 18 years for Chelsea, Aston Villa, Manchester City, Celtic and, most recently, Preston in the Championship not only adds considerable experience to Barton’s relatively young squad but also gives him an extra wide player in the final third.
Since the summer exit of Sam Nicholson and the loan returns of Luke Thomas and Elliot Anderson, Rovers have lacked width in the final third. Sylvester Jasper arrived on deadline day from Fulham but Barton has been deploying striker Aaron Collins and playmaker Antony Evans in wide areas.
"We are delighted to have brought Scott into the group,” Barton said. “He has been training with us for a couple of weeks now. We're enjoying having him in with us. He's a fit lad, his experience and quality is superb and he will strengthen us further as we move into these winter months."
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