Andi Weimann is delighted to be reunited with Rovers boss John Eustace, after signing a one-year contract with the club.

The Austrian attacker became Rovers’ sixth summer signing yesterday when he joined on a free transfer after leaving Bristol City at the end of last season.

Weimann had been training with the Rovers squad for the past week and impressed sufficiently at our Brockhall base to earn himself a deal.

His association with the Rovers head coach goes back 13 years, as the pair played together at Watford when Weimann twice joined the Hornets for loan spells from Aston Villa, where he started his career in English football.

Eustace used to give Weimann lifts to Watford, to and from the Midlands, and the Austrian forward is grateful their long-standing relationship has now been rekindled.

“I knew the manager – I played with him a few years back now – and I knew Keith Downing from Bristol City, so I asked if I could join in training to keep myself fit and ticking over,” he told RoversTV.

“I don’t know if it makes me sound old or him sound young. It was at Watford. I went on loan when I was 19, so nearly 14 years ago.

“I was still in digs at Aston Villa and he lived not far away. I didn’t have a car then, so he used to give me lifts back from Watford to Sutton Coldfield, which was nice of him.”

Weimann, who is closing in on 500 appearances and 100 goals in English football, says he has been made to feel extremely welcome over the past week with the club and is delighted to now be a fully-fledged Rovers player.

“I think I’ve had five sessions now with the boys and I’m glad that I’ve finally signed,” he added.

“When you’re out of contract it’s hard, because you don’t want to just run by yourself or go on a football pitch by yourself and just do basic drills. So it’s been really nice of the manager to let me join in training and meet the boys.

“The boys have been brilliant, they’ve accepted me straight away and I’ve really enjoyed it. It’s been a week now and it’s been good.

“I’m nearly 33, but this was the first time in my career that I’d been out of contract, which was a strange feeling because I’d never experienced it before.

“You’re speaking to people who are telling you this offer’s coming in or that offer’s coming in, but it’s all sorted now, so I’m happy.”

‘The boys have been brilliant, they’ve accepted me straight away and I’ve really enjoyed it’