STRIKER Paul Gallagher has revealed he could be playing in Norway now, instead of with Plymouth Argyle in the Championship.

The Blackburn Rovers loan signing (pictured right) has revealed he had the option to move to Stavanger-based Viking FK before putting pen to paper for the Pilgrims.

Viking FK play in the Tippeligaen, which is Norway's top division, and their director of football is Egil Ostenstad, who was one of Gallagher's team-mates at Blackburn in the 2002/03 season.

Their coach is former Manchester City and Kaiserslautern striker Uwe Rosler.

But Gallagher took the chance to play in the Championship with Argyle and signed for them on August 30.

And, after scoring three times in his first four appearances, including both goals in the 2-1 win at Crystal Palace on Saturday, manager Paul Sturrock will be pretty pleased he did.

Gallagher said: "I had a few offers. One was from Viking FK in Norway, which was a bit far.

"I knew Egil Ostenstad, their director of football, because I played with him at Blackburn.

"But I wanted to stay in England and prove that I am a good player and one day, hopefully, get back in the Premier League."

He added: "This league (the Championship) is a good one and I have come here and I'm enjoying it so far. Hopefully, that will continue."

Gallagher, 24, had loan spells with Preston North End and Stoke City in the Championship last season.

And he came close to a permanent transfer from Blackburn to Preston in January.

Gallagher initially signed for Preston when Paul Simpson was their manager, but he was sacked and replaced by Alan Irvine last November.

"Paul Simpson took me to Preston but he was under a bit of pressure and wanted to play his own players who he had taken to the club," said Gallagher. "A few of the loan signings weren't involved.

"But Alan Irvine came in and was fantastic. You can see it in the job he has done now.

"Preston put in a bid for me in January and it got accepted, but it just fell through at the last minute."

Meanwhile, Gallagher hopes he can catch the eye of Scotland manager George Burley during his loan spell at Argyle.

The Glasgow-born goalscorer has been capped once by his country at senior international level.

That was when Scotland lost 4-0 to Wales in a friendly at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, in February 2004.

Gallagher, who made 11 appearances for Scotland under 21s, said: "I want to play for my country.

"I have got one cap but you can understand why I haven't been playing, because I haven't been playing at club level.

"Hopefully, coming here and scoring goals will get the Scotland manager thinking."

For the meantime, though, Gallagher is enjoying life in the south west of England with his family.

He said: "I have settled in Plymouth and my fiancee and daughter have come down and they have settled in as well. We knew it was a big challenge but we are relishing it and it has been fantastic so far."

Argyle reserves are playing Yeovil Town in the Totesport.com Combination at Home Park today (2pm).

The Pilgrims' line-up is expected to include recent signings Nicolas Marin and Emile Mpenza.