ACCRINGTON STANLEY midfielder insists Forest Green's backroom staff saved his career, writes Alex James.

Brown was playing his first game after making a permanent move to Cheltenham from first club Bristol City in January 2007 when he was taken out by his own team-mate when they both went for a shot.

Brown told the Lancashire Telegraph: “It was a double leg fracture, and I dislocated my ankle. I went straight to the hospital and once I got there the surgeon looked at me and said ‘you’ll be lucky if you even walk again properly, let alone play football’.

“But 18 months later I was back on the pitch.”

He owes his recovery to Dr Alistair Smith and sports therapist Ian Weston, who are both now part of Forest Green Rovers’ backroom team.

“They are dedicated and the best types of people you can work with in football,” said Brown.

“Wezza used to come and pick me up every day after the injury and take me into training. If it wasn’t for his rehab I probably wouldn’t be playing today.

“Mentally it’s really hard being out for that amount of time and there were loads of complications with it. There were weeks where I was thinking ‘I’m not going to get back’. I was walking with a limp. But Wezza stuck with me and gradually got me back playing.

“I had to adapt my game, I was a wing back then but I had to adapt to playing a more central role, and that’s stood me in good stead.

“I still speak to Wezza most weeks, just about football - how they’re getting on, how we’re getting on. He’s a top man and I’ve got a lot to thank him for.

“Every time I see him I always say thank you.”

The Reds go into tomorrow’s home game with Forest Green Rovers a point clear at the League Two summit, after toppling Luton last weekend.