On 29 June 2001 he signed for Blackburn Rovers permanently for a transfer fee of £1.5M. He made his Premier League debut on 22 August in a 2–2 draw with Manchester United at Ewood Park. Three days later he scored Blackburn's first goal in a 2–1 home win over Tottenham Hotspur. He made a total of thirteen league appearances in the 2001–02 season as Blackburn finished in tenth place. He was an unused substitute when Blackburn won the 2002 League Cup, beating Tottenham 2–1 at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, on 24 February 2002.