Defender Looking Forward To Next Season With Town
Article Copyright © 2016. Permission to use quotations from this article is only granted subject to appropriate source credit and hyperlink to www.shrewsburytown.com“The acquisitions we have made over the summer we are building well and we will work hard over pre-season and we will look a lot higher this season,” he added.
“There will be a few new faces but with that comes the excitement of learning and getting to know new people.
“I personally know a couple of people that have come in and a few of the lads that have come in know each other from playing with each other so I think it is going to make it a little bit easier that a lot of the lads know each other.
“Last season there were a lot of new faces from a lot of places who hadn’t been around each other before so it is going to be good it is going to be exciting.
“A lot of lads have been in and around this level for a long while now so they know what it is about at both ends of the table.”
Brown has been impressed with the signings made so far this season and says he is looking forward to the action getting underway.
“It didn’t start the way I wanted to but I bided my time, got the opportunity and seized it,” he said.
“Unfortunately it ended the way it did but overall I was quite pleased with the way it went and I am looking forward to building on that and kicking on again this season.
“We have had our ups and downs and it has been a struggle at times but there is a great group of lads and it is a great club to be at and as I say I am looking forward to cracking on next season.
“When you get your opportunity you really want to cling onto it. You also work as hard as you can to get that opportunity and when you get there you have got to keep working hard and I feel I did that and obviously the staff felt I did that as they kept me in the side.
“It is something I am going to try and build on this season.
"It was difficult. We under-performed for most of the season. All the lads and the staff would say that.”
Last season was a success personally for Junior after breaking into the side.
“I have been working hard towards the end of the season to get it right and ready to go and I have done some extra over the off season and I am feeling good – fighting fit and ready to go,” he said.
“Getting injured at the time I did was disappointing. I could have just left it and done nothing but the right thing to do was come in over the off season and work and get it right. It has been annoying not being able to get away as such but it is important to get myself fit and I am ready to go.
“It was upsetting and difficult to take but the lads all dug in and worked hard and obviously Sads (Mat Sadler) came in and did exceptionally well to be fair to him. It is always nice to have somebody who is such a nice lad get their opportunity and do well.
“It is going to be difficult now because I am going to have to try and prove myself again now and get my position back. It is going to be a tough fight over pre-season and one I am up for and one I am sure he is up for. It is going to be interesting but I am looking forward to it.”
Brown missed the last seven games of the season through injury but he has been working hard to get himself fit ahead of the new campaign.
“It is nice. It has taken a while but we have managed to get it all sorted and done and dusted,” he said.
“The main focus for me has been getting myself fit and ready to go. I am now going to enjoy the next couple of weeks before we are back for pre-season.
“The club are trying to do the best for themselves and players are trying to do the best for themselves so there is a bit of to and fro. In the end you reach an agreement which is good."
The former Fleetwood Town and Mansfield Town man had been in negotiations with the club since the end of last season and he is pleased everything has now been sorted.
“I know he has faith and trust in me. To have that is always nice.
“It gives you a bit of confidence when you are playing that your manager has got faith in you and that can only bode well.”
“I know the gaffer well and I have worked with him at a previous club and I know what he is about and what he wants from his players and what he expects,” Junior told shrewsburytown.com
And the 27-year-old is pleased to have signed the new deal after a series of negotiations.
The left-sided player, who featured mainly at full back last season, worked with the Scot at Fleetwood Town before enjoying a successful first season in Shropshire.
Junior Brown is looking forward to continuing working with manager Micky Mellon after putting pen to paper on a new two-year contract at Shrewsbury Town.