BLACKBURN Rovers were last night closing in on a deal to sign fan favourite Danny Graham on a permanent contract.

The experienced striker will be a free agent once his Sunderland contract expires a week today.

And Rovers are understood to be hopeful they have fought off competition from a string of clubs for his signature.

Graham was a huge hit at Rovers in the second half of last season after joining on loan from Sunderland in January.

The 30-year-old hit seven goals in 18 games to finish the campaign as the Championship outfit’s leading marksman.

That fine form has led to clubs from both sides of the border attempting to land Graham on a free transfer.

But last night it appeared the former Watford and Swansea City frontman was heading for Ewood Park with sources insisting a deal was ‘not a million miles away’ from being done.

The capture of Graham would be a huge coup for new Rovers boss Owen Coyle who has already signed Republic of Ireland international forward Anthony Stokes following his release from Celtic as well as Scotland Under-21 international left-back Stephen Hendrie on a season-long loan from West Ham United.

Coyle is also attempting to complete a loan deal for a highly rated young midfielder, who spent last season away from his Premier League parent club, and has lined up the free transfer signing of Bolton Wanderers winger Liam Feeney.

But, contrary to reports, the Ewood chief has not held talks with released Manchester midfielder Nick Powell.

Coyle said: “From day one we’ve said we are going to work our socks off and leave no stone unturned to try and get the best players to the football club with the finance that we have available.

“We don’t have the spending power of the clubs in the league with parachute payments but we’ll utilise what we have to the very best of our abilities.

“It’s our job to get a team on the park that is representative of our brilliant fan base. That’s what we’re trying to do with a mixture of players we think have a fantastic pedigree and exciting young players.”

The English Football League fixtures were released yesterday and Rovers will kick off the campaign at home to Norwich City, who were relegated from the Premier League last season, before making their way to Coyle’s former club Wigan Athletic, the League One champions.

“I’m sure the game against Norwich will be one the fans are excited by,” said Coyle.

“They are going to be one of the big, big favourites to get back to the Premier League. I know their manager, Alex Neil, really well, and with the huge parachute payments and the quality of players he has, I’m sure he’ll be looking to get back up at the first opportunity.

“But we’ll be doing everything we can to ensure Blackburn Rovers start the season in a good manner and it’s a game we will be looking forward to. It’s a great opening game.

“We’ve then got Wigan but it doesn’t matter that they’re one of my old clubs. Everyone is going to play each other at some stage.

“It’s a lovely stadium, hopefully the pitch will be in good shape for the start of the season, they’re a good footballing side, and it’s a local derby.

“It’s another game we’ll be looking forward to and we’ll be going there to pick up points and get up and running away from home.”

Meanwhile, midfielder Chris Taylor, who will leave Rovers when his contract expires at the end of the month, is understood to be in talks with Bolton Wanderers.