Brown looking to nail down a starting place
THERE is no superstar ego about Jaden Brown when he appears before the press ahead of Town’s game against Middlesbrough.
It is the first time in his career the defender has been put forward for media duties – but as he has proven on the pitch this season, he is never one to let a lack of experience stand in his way.
There were concerns Town looked light at left-back before the season began – if Terence Kongolo were to return to centre-back or continue to miss out through injury – but much like Lewis O’Brien in midfield, Brown has turned an opportunity to impress in pre-season into an unexpectedly good run in Town’s Championship side.
Brown had made just one senior appearance prior to this season, with that appearance coming his only outing in a half-season loan spell with League Two Exeter
City that start just a couple of weeks after he signed for Town from Tottenham Hotspur last season.
But the 20-yearold has stepped into the Town leftback slot and put on a series of surprisingly mature performances.
It was Kongolo’s shift to centre-back under then-caretaker manager Mark Hudson first saw Brown thrust into the first team, and the Dutchman’s absence through injury since midway through the West Brom game has seen Brown help Town to a run of eight points from their last four games, including their first back-toback clean sheets since August 2017.
Brown believes that while that disappointing loan spell at Exeter may not have given him the game time he and Town would have liked, the experience helped drive him on ahead of this campaign.
He said: “Football is football, sometimes you play and sometimes you don’t. But I think it gave me more hunger this season to prove a point to everyone really, and myself, that I was actually good enough to start. I felt having a good
I’m looking to keep my place, gain more points and just be in a good position in the league
pre-season could put me in a good position and that the chance would come, and yeah, to be honest it has come sooner than I thought, but when you get your chances you have to take them and just try your hardest.
“For me it’s just doing the basics well first of all: get your basics sorted out and your ability will show.
“I’m looking to keep my place, gain more points with the team, and just be in a good position in the table.”
Brown has made nine appearances so far this season but has already established himself.
He said: “I like the fans a lot, I like playing at home because you can hear them for the whole game.
“In recent weeks we have given them something to cheer about and it’s a good feeling.” When asked if he feels that having had an education at an elite club like Spurs has proven an advantage now that he is entering his senior career, he said: “Yeah, but not too much.
“Being at Tottenham, being on the ball, I think it’s helped me out a lot, but if you look at the flipside with things like back-post defending, there’s still stuff to work on for me here.”
Brown then outlined what a regular day looks like under the Cowleys: “We’ll come in, have a meeting, maybe review the game we’ve just played or the next team we’re playing, then we’ll go out and train – it depends what day it is and what the next game is, but training is good, everyone enjoys it.
“We watch videos back most days. It’s as important as being on the pitch because you look back on your mistakes and the positives, and for me you learn a lot from that.”