WES Brown has experienced the enormous frustration of World Cup elimination with England, but a week on the sidelines at Brockhall will still rankle with the experienced defender.

Brown, 35, has spent pre-season training with Owen Coyle’s squad and went on the tour to Austria, battling through the tough triple training sessions the new boss imposed on his squad to get them into shape.

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He’s not featured in any of the warm-up matches so far and was absent from the squad that travelled to Blackpool on Saturday.

But afterwards Coyle confirmed that the former Manchester United and Sunderland man would hopefully get his chance to impress before the Championship season starts on August 6 .

First, however, he must kick his heels while his body heals.

And that has been a source of enormous frustration for the Manchester-born star, who is yet to decide on his next career move as he keeps in shape under the Rovers boss.

Coyle said: “We are hoping to get him involved.

“Wes had a calf strain and, to be fair to him, there’s been two or three times he’s tried to train on it when, as much as he’s an experienced player, I think he had that enthusiasm that you want to be part of it.

“We got him scanned and saw there was a little cause for concern in respect of what it was, so we’ll probably have to just shut him down for a week in terms of him not doing anything on it.

“We’re hopeful at some point next week we’ll start to get him some games and take it from there.”

Brown was present on the first day of pre-season training at Brockahll as a new era started under Coyle following the departure of Paul Lambert at the end of last season.

When asked at the time about the arrangement with veteran centre-half, Coyle said: “It’s certainly no trial.

“Wes Brown has had such an illustrious career and is an outstanding player.

“The games he played last year with Sunderland in the Premier League, he was an outstanding player.

“I said to Wes come in and enjoy his pre-season and have a look at things.

“He has a number of offers on the table and he was in no rush.

“So I said, ‘Why don’t you come in, enjoy what you’re doing here, feel good about your game, and you and I will have a chat going forward’.

“It’s as simple as that.”

Brown has clearly enjoyed the experience and Coyle hailed his impact within a young Rovers squad.

“He’s been about and he’s been a wonderful influence with the players,” said the manager.

“He’s frustrated because he wants to train, he wants to play, as we all are, but it’s important that we do things properly, professionally and manage it correctly.”