New Blackburn boss Paul Ince is contractually obliged to earn his UEFA Pro Licence in the window allocated by the Premier League.

Ince was named as Mark Hughes' successor on Sunday despite not possessing the required coaching qualifications to take over at a top flight club and made his first appearance in front of the media this afternoon.

And chairman John Williams, who secured the kind of dispensation for the former England captain that has previously been awarded to Gareth Southgate, Avram Grant and Glenn Roeder after negotiations with league chiefs, admitted Ince was formally bound to completing his training in the agreed period.

"On behalf of the Premier League I would say that they rightly made us work very hard to get Paul and we had to give certain undertakings because quite clearly Paul didn't meet the requirements of the rule.

"It was a bit like that film, Groundhog Day. You'd wake up thinking Paul was a candidate and you go to bed thinking he's not.

"He couldn't finally be a candidate until dispensation was given.

"The case was made that Paul had served his apprenticeship in the lower leagues and had been busy with that since he stopped playing and we gave the undertaking that Paul will (get the licence).

"Paul has signed a contract with Blackburn where that undertaking is a contractual term. It's not something we'll just try and get done. He's under contract to Blackburn that he will complete that timeframe and we in turn have given that to the Premier League."