Irish international Anthony Stokes returns to Hibernian for a third time

Republic of Ireland international Anthony Stokes will return to Scottish Premiership side Hibernian for the third time after his contract with Blackburn Rovers was torn up by mutual consent.

The striker will link up once again with his former Celtic manager Neil Lennon after the Armagh man guided Hibs to promotion and the Scottish Championship title last season.

29-year-old Stokes first joined the Edinburgh club from Sunderland in 2009, scoring 22 goals in his one and only league season before joining Celtic.

And he spent the second half of the 2015-16 season on loan at Fir Park from Celtic, scoring nine goals in 25 appearances, including two in the Scottish Cup final win over Rangers.

“The club has a big place in my heart and it’s where I’ve played some of my best football,” Stokes told the club's official website.

“It’s an environment that can get the best out of me and I am looking forward to getting back amongst the squad and scoring goals again.

“The scenes of celebration following the cup win will live long in my memory, and the only disappointment from my last spell was that we didn’t get promotion.

“The boys did brilliantly last season and now I’ll be looking to help us push on back in the Premiership.”

Lennon added: “Anthony’s a quality player that we all know well, and will be a massive addition to our strike force.

“I’ve been really pleased with the work we’ve done over the summer – the squad is in good shape and we’ve made several strong additions.

“We now have competition in every area of the park and are ready for the start of the league campaign on Saturday.”

Stokes played junior football with Cherry Orchard and Shelbourne before moving to London aged 15 to sign as a trainee with Arsenal.

Following a loan spell in Scotland with Falkirk, Stokes left Arsenal without making a senior appearance and signed for Sunderland, who were then managed by Roy Keane.

He spent two-and-a-half years with Sunderland, helping them to the Championship title in his first season, but struggled to hold down a place in the Premier League before joining Hibs in 2009.

Stokes has nine Republic of Ireland caps, his debut coming in a famous 2-1 win away to San Marino in 2007.