Ahead of schedule Junior Brown reckons injury has made him a better person

The 28-year-old has been out since mid-October after rupturing his cruciate ligament against Fleetwood. Brown underwent surgery on his knee and has since been recovering with Town physio Chris Skitt.

Brown was enjoying a fine season and was seen as a key player in their improbable push at the top of League One.

The left-back was backed by boss Paul Hurst and Skitt to have the fight to battle back to full fitness, and Brown believes he is ahead of schedule and that progression has been remarkable.

"It’s been good and I’m ahead of schedule I think," Brown told shrewsburytown.com.

"It’s been tough not being able to be involved in training and the day to day things that I was doing when I was fit. I’ve been in the gym looking out of the window like a little kid, seeing the lads training, wanting to be part of it, but not being able to be part of it.

"I’m focussed on the task at hand still and I’ve got a good physio team, Skitty especially, getting me through it and coming up with different ways to keep me entertained, so I’m looking forward to the next couple of months and where we go from here."

Former Fleetwood star Brown, whose Montgomery Waters Meadow contract is up this summer, believes time in the treatment room and gym has helped him develop into a better person.

"I’ve always been quite good at forgetting about things and moving on," Brown added.

"I’ve been out now for two or three months and the progress has been remarkable in terms of physically and mentally.

"I’ve been frustrated at times because I want to do more than I perhaps should be doing, I want to push myself that little bit too far sometimes and the staff have to reign me in a bit, but I think that’s to my own personal benefit.

"Mentally it’s been tough but nothing I wasn’t prepared for, nothing that I wasn’t up for and I think as a person, development wise, it’s rounded me off as a better person.

"I think when I come back and I look at this period as a whole, it will be something to look back on and say that it changed me as an individual and helped motivate me and made me into a better person."

Omar Beckles has filled in admirably at left-back with Shrews desperately lacking in a natural replacement following the Brown blow.

But Hurst moved to bring in Derby's left-sided defender Max Lowe on loan for the remainder of the season. Brown is not expected to feature for the rest of the current campaign.