from the team, making only the occasional substitute appearance. After coming off the bench to score in a 3–2 victory over Liverpool on 7 February 1998, he started the remaining 13 league games, scoring eight goals as the Saints finished the 1997–98 season in 11th place. Østenstad was part of the Norway squad for the 1998 World Cup held in France, but was given little chance to make any impact. In the 1998 close season, Kevin Davies departed for Blackburn Rovers, with James Beattie joining the Saints as part of the deal. Østenstad was now paired up front with veteran striker Mark Hughes. The 1998–99 season saw Saints struggle to score goals and they were never out of the relegation zone until the last two weeks of the season. Despite only scoring seven goals, Østenstad was Saints top goal-scorer for the season (jointly with Matthew Le Tissier), but by the end of the season he had lost his starting place in the team to Marians Pahars. Østenstad started the 1999–00 season brightly, scoring the only goal at Coventry City in the opening game on 7 August 1999. 11 days later, Dave Jones decided to move him on and arranged an exchange deal with Blackburn Rovers with Kevin Davies returning to The Dell. This move saw him drop down a division, as Rovers had just been relegated to Division One. In his three years at the Saints, Østenstad scored 28 goals in 96 league appearances, plus a further five goals in 13 cup games. He was always a popular figure, but sometimes infuriated fans by seeming to miss as many "easy" goals as he scored difficult ones. Blackburn Rovers Despite being re-united with manager Graeme Souness and dropping down a division, Østenstad struggled to make an impact at Ewood Park. He started well, scoring a brace in his second game, in a 2–0 victory at Norwich City on 28 August 1999 and completed the 1999–00 season with eight league goals from 28 appearances, playing alongside Ashley Ward and Lee Carsley. The goals then started to dry up and the following season he only made 13 appearances for Blackburn with three goals. By now, Blackburn were relying on goals from Matt Jansen and David Dunn to see them to promotion. He spent the end of the 2000–01 season on loan at Manchester City (where he made four appearances with no goals). In