Goalkeeper JasonBrown braced for success as Pittodrie move restores faith in game

JASON Brown considered turning his back on football a year ago – but says his excitement about the potential he feels Aberdeen possess has re-ignited his passion for the game.

The goalkeeper has only lost two of 12 games since claiming the No 1 spot in early December as Aberdeen recovered from an abysmal start to the season which saw Craig Brown’s hit the bottom of the SPL table.

Brown had only played 16 games in five years at Blackburn before moving north in the summer, with only a handful more coming in loan spells at Leeds and Leyton Orient. However, his recent run in the starting line-up, coupled with confidence in his team-mates, has inspired optimism that the coming years can be much more fruitful.

Aberdeen face Hibs at Easter Road today looking to consolidate sixth place in the SPL, with a testing William Hill Scottish Cup replay at Queen of the South to come on Tuesday.

Brown said: “I’m loving it here. I fell back in love with football.

“This time last year, if I’m being perfectly honest, I would have walked away from the game.

“I just felt I wasn’t getting the rub of the green. You feel the whole world is against you. But I love it here and my family love it here. A lot of people think my contract is up in the summer but I have another year and I’m hoping to stay many years after that.”

Brown, who has conceded three goals in seven games, added: “I want success and I genuinely believe we can get it here, 100 per cent hand on heart, and I want to be part of that.”

Aberdeen have been hit by a flurry of injuries that will deprive them of Russell Anderson, Rob Milsom, Isaac Osbourne, Yoann Folly, Gavin Rae, Peter Pawlett, Michael Paton and Danny Uchechi against Hibs, and possibly Youl Mawene and Clark Robertson. However, manager Craig Brown was able to strengthen his squad considerably last month with the likes of former Motherwell pair Mark Reynolds and Stephen Hughes adding experience and quality.

Goalkeeper Brown, who has been capped by Wales, said: “I’m really excited about next season. We’ll keep the majority of the squad and maybe add one or two others.

“I think we can do some exciting things next season. You have to take into consideration that this is a new squad.

“A lot of people have looked past that and said ‘this is not good enough’. But you have to take that into consideration.” Brown still has ambitions of challenging in the upper reaches of the SPL this season.

The 29-year-old said: “Up until fifth place they have a nice cushion on the rest. We are six points behind but we play them as well.

“We play teams in and around us so we can take points to consolidate top six. But going to Hibs will be very tough. They have brought in a lot of players from England and they are fighting for their lives.

“So we have to go with the same attitude as we have been doing and stay in the game because they will come out flying being the home team.”