Brown determined to come back fitter and stronger
Shrewsbury Town Defender Junior Brown is looking to stay positive, despite being ruled out for the rest of the season with a knee injury.
Speaking for the first time since tearing his anterior cruciate ligament, the Town full-back admitted that it was disappointing to pick up the injury, but said that he is now looking to help keep spirits high in the camp.
“I knew something wasn’t right”, Junior told ShrewsWeb.
“I knew it wasn’t going to be good news, but to get the news that I did was a bit crushing really, especially with the way that performances have been going, not only for myself personally but also the team.
“It’s nice to be part of winning team and it’s going to be disappointing to not be able to share those moments as much as I would have liked to, but I’m still part of the squad, I’m still working every day, I’ll still be at the games, so I will be doing my part to keep motivation high and spirits high.”
Junior’s operation last week was a success and he will now spend much of his time working with Chris Skitt and the rest of the medical staff. Skitt has a good track record of bringing players back stronger from ACL injuries and Junior is taking positives from that.
“I’ve got to stay positive”, Brown said.
“Skitty’s probably had enough of me already in terms of the way I am and how I’m trying to stay on top of things and how I almost try and make light of every situation, because it’s a tough situation to be in, but you have to get on with it, roll with it and before I know it I will be back.
“I look at the situation with Natty (Nat Knight-Percival) and he obviously came back strong, kicked on and he’s played week in week out since, so I’ve got good benchmarks to look at. I know where I need to be and what I need to do and I know that I’m capable of it.”
Brown understands that returning to action seems a long way away, but he will be taking it step by step in order to come back as soon as possible.
“It’s going to be a long journey”, admitted Junior.
“There’s going to be a lot of hard work and there’s going to be a lot of ups and downs, but with the team we’ve got in place I’m sure I will be back in no time.
“It’s going to be frustrating for me because there will be days where I’m almost not doing anything and it will be frustrating mentally because I will want to kick-on, but I will do as I’m told from the medical staff and I will be back.”