Brown is desperate to make his mark in Hibs squad

The former Rangers and Motherwell goalkeeper signed for Hibs in January and fully intended to launch straight into a battle for the gloves with Graham Stack and Graeme Smith.

However, a wrist injury suffered during a training session just three weeks into his Hibs career ruled him out for almost the entire remainder of the season, Brown only able to return to full training a fortnight before the campaign ended.

The keeper is beginning to see light at the end of the tunnel now and, while he is still to make his competitive debut for the Easter Road side, Brown brought a frustrating few months to an end last weekend when he pulled on a Hibs shirt and started in goals for the friendly match against Dunfermline.

Although Stack started the following match against Queen of the South on Tuesday night at Palmerston Park, Brown was brought on to replace the Englishman for the final 45 minutes and Hughes has vowed to give each of his players as much game time as possible during their build-up to the new season.

Hibs have a tough pre-season schedule, their trip to Holland packed with four games in the space of just nine days, before returning to Scotland to take on both Carlisle United and Blackpool before their opening Europa League match at the end of this month.

And, with so many matches still to come before the start of the season proper, Brown is hoping he will get more chances to prove to his manager that he should be his first pick between the sticks when the 2010-11 season kicks off.

He said today: "It has been a frustrating time for me because when you go to a new club you obviously want to make as good an impression as you can, as quickly as you can. I had only been here for three or four weeks and fractured a bone in my wrist in training and there's not a lot that you can do when that happens.

"I was out for virtually the rest of the season. I think that I only came back for the final couple of weeks of training and by that stage it's too late to make an impact on the side.

"In a way, I suppose that it is like a fresh start for me now and I'm like a new player, but I have got the advantage that I have already been here for a few months and I already know everyone.

"I know how the club works and all of the ins and outs of it and hopefully that will work to my advantage."

Brown suffered the fracture to his right wrist when he dived to make a save but the pain was initially not too severe and it wasn't until a few days later that a scan revealed the extent of the problem. And he admits that, because he otherwise felt physically fine, it was difficult to deal with being out of action for such a period of time.

He continued: "It's been quite hard because it is the first major injury I have had in my entire career up until now and trying to go about your day-to-day stuff without actually being out on the training pitch was probably the hardest part for me.

"It was just a shot and the ball moved slightly so I changed my hand position at the last minute as I went to stop it. I just felt a pain but I didn't feel too bad at first, I even managed to finish the training session, it was the next day that I really felt it.

"It had swollen up by then and I knew that there was something wrong but I had to wait until the swelling went down before I could have a scan done on it. The majority of injuries are maybe hamstrings or thighs and they stop you from doing a lot but because it was only my wrist, I still felt fine. Apart from my wrist, I felt 100 percent. I just tried to keep my fitness up by doing a lot of running, that was really all that I was allowed to do.

"A lot of the boys moan about the amount of running that you have to do in pre-season but I was having to do that every single day on my own and, mentally as well as physically, it's hard to keep that up in the long term especially when the boys are out on the training pitch getting involved with the ball and in games. The physio department were absolutely brilliant and put up with my moaning every day, they treated me well and explained on a daily and a weekly basis what was going to happen and what work I would have to be doing, and that helped give me a bit of a timetable."

Stack and Smith are both big characters in the dressing-room and their capers in training and constant competitiveness have helped settle Brown into the club.

However, both are also determined to leave the others sitting on the bench or in the stand while they claim the gloves for themselves - and Brown is no different.

"I knew Buzz before I came to Hibs because we were at Rangers when we were kids and he has never changed really.

I think there's a real good mix of personalities amongst the keepers and it's good for training, everyone pushes everyone else on.

"A lot of time we are working away from the other boys so it's good to have guys like that around you, as well as Scott Thomson the goalkeeping coach, who has been great.

"I think that we will all get a go - it's the same for all of the players and I don't think that anyone is assured of a place.

"We have got enough games over the course of the pre- season to ensure that everyone will get their chance to stake their claim and to show the manager what we can do.

"I don't think the goalkeepers are any different in that sense but obviously in our case, we're all fighting for the one place and you really don't want to be sitting in the stand or on the bench. We are all friends but there has to be a rivalry in there as well.

"Each of us wants the job but, at the end of the day, only one of us can be in there. The other two will be thinking exactly the same." One game Brown is most looking forward to being involved in is the Edinburgh derby, having watched them unfold from the stand last season. Brown spent the first half of last season on loan from Celtic to Kilmarnock and played and trained alongside Hearts' new boy Kevin Kyle.

He knows all about the threat the big striker will pose to SPL defences this season and is looking forward to coming up against him in the coming months. "I was on loan with Kilmarnock last season so I know Kevin well and what he is capable of," said Brown.

"I'm looking forward to hopefully being involved in the derby games against him this season, the final derby of the season last year was the first time that I had been to an Edinburgh derby and it was good to see it first hand.

"The stadium is looking magnificent and I think it will create a brilliant atmosphere. I think we're all just champing at the bit to be out there in front of the fans playing again."..