Jim McInally has hailed Peterhead’s Mr Consistent Scott Brown.
You have to go back to March 2018 to find the last time the Blue Toon captain missed a league game.
Since then the midfielder has only sat out two cup ties – meaning he’s played in 100 of the Buchan club’s last 102 games.
Balmoor manager McInally has been delighted with the consistency of Brown, who is now in his fifth season with Peterhead.
Scotland’s longest-serving manager said: “That’s quite an amazing thing in this day and age and with the amount of travelling he does.
“I think that statistic speaks volumes for Scott’s professionalism and how he looks after himself.
“It’s quite amazing and I can remember back to the early days when he was with us and he maybe got a wee bit huffy when I moved him around a few positions.
“And now he’ll come to me and say: ‘if you want me to play centre-half or wherever I’ll go and do it.’
“We’ve been short at times this season and he’s been willing to do that and play anywhere.
“I think Scott has just matured and hopefully he feels he is somewhere where he is trusted and held in high regard.
“He knows we won’t stand in his way (if the opportunity was there at a higher level) and we’ve shown that already.
“I think he’s happy with where he is and that is a big thing in football.”
Brown joined Peterhead in August 2016, having been released by St Johnstone that summer.
Since then the 26-year-old has become a mainstay of McInally’s side, helping the Blue Toon win the League Two title in 2019 and rejecting offers to return to full-time football in the last two summers.
McInally added: “That player was always there. I remember the night he came up to Lossiemouth to play in a bounce game.
“He was a player that was beyond trials, but he came up and trialled himself in Lossiemouth.
“I knew he’d been held in high regard at St Johnstone and had actually played quite a bit at St Johnstone.
“At the time, he was maybe waiting for something better, but when he saw something better wasn’t there he jumped on the minibus and came up to Lossiemouth midweek.
“You could tell straightaway that he was a really good player and the first thing that stood out was that he was a midfield player that wanted to get forward and have shots at goal.
“Don’t get me wrong he went back into his shell a wee bit that first season, but he maybe lost faith in football and himself a little bit that season.
“I think it’s been about getting him to enjoy his football and trust the people that he works for that they’re going to do the best thing for him.
“I think that’s where he’s improved, he’s got that little bit of petulance out of him as an individual as well.
“He can go and play a number of positions and do it really well and he’s happy to be a team player.
“I think at one time he was maybe thinking more about needing to get a move, but I think he’s more settled now in his life.
“In the last couple of years, Scott’s had opportunities to go back to full-time football.
“He hasn’t gone and he walked away from one because he didn’t feel they wanted him enough and he’s mature enough to see those things.”
