BLACKBURN Rovers midfielder Jason Lowe is desperate to be involved in Saturday’s crunch clash at Brentford after recovering from the serious injury he never knew he had suffered.

The 23-year-old has spent 12 weeks on the sidelines with a stress fracture in his foot he sustained toward the end of pre-season.

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But it was not until after he had played every minute of Rovers’ first six games of the campaign that the pain he had started to feel forced him to get the problem checked out.

Now with a week’s worth of training under his belt Lowe hopes to be part of Gary Bowyer’s squad for the trip to fellow promotion hopefuls Brentford.

He said: “I was probably playing with the injury for about four or five weeks.

“It was something that was giving me a little bit of discomfort and by the end it was pretty sore quite constantly so we had to get it checked out.

“It was unexpected the injury but it is what it is.

“It’s been a long time but I’ve worked really hard to maintain a good level of fitness so hopefully that won’t be too much of a problem.

“It’s just about getting my bearings back, getting back out on the football field and getting bodies around me.

“Hopefully I’ll be ready and available for selection by the weekend if the manager needs me.”

Rovers will head to Griffin Park on the back of a home loss to Sheffield Wednesday that ended their nine-game unbeaten run.

But Academy graduate Lowe said: “I’ve been here a long time and the fact that we’re fighting for places at the top of the league is a nice feeling to have.

“Obviously the weekend was a bit of a setback but sometimes you need those results just to shake you up and kick on again.

“Hopefully we can do that and bounce back. We’ve done that previously and there’s no reason why we can’t do it again.”

Promoted Brentford are three points above seventh-placed Rovers in fifth and have suffered just four league defeats at home since the start of last season.

Lowe said: “They have come up and got the momentum, they’ve been on a decent run themselves, so by no means will it be an easy game.

“But if we turn up in the right frame of mind and from the first minute we’re at it, there’s no reason why we can’t come away from there with a good result.”

Lowe boosted his chances of being involved against the Bees by playing 45 minutes of a behind-closed-doors encounter with Crewe Alexandra at Brockhall yesterday.

A strong Rovers side, featuring the returning Bradley Orr, ran out 1-0 winners thanks to a headed goal from former Crewe striker Luke Varney.

Bowyer, meanwhile, has offered his reaction to the FA Cup third-round draw.

His side will head to Championship rivals Charlton Athletic over the weekend of January 3-4.

“Obviously we would have preferred a home tie for the fans so soon after Christmas,” said the Rovers boss.

“But it is a good game to start the New Year and it is a competition we want to do well in to help our cause this season.”