Mike Brown feared career was over before signing Leicester contract

Mike Brown says he feared his career was finished after being released by Newcastle at the end of last season, but the full-back is now preparing for Leicester’s Champions Cup last-16 match against Edinburgh at Welford Road on Friday night.

The 37-year-old signed for the Tigers on a short-term deal in January and, following five accomplished appearances and two tries, it was announced on Tuesday that his contract has been extended into next season.

“Of course there were low moments when you didn’t think it was going to come,” Brown said of a winter that featured “a lot of dark mornings in the local gym”, when the former England international was without a professional contract for the first time since 2005.

“But then you kind of snap out of it and you carry on. It’s hard when you don’t have a purpose … it takes mental toughness to go to places you don’t want to go. When it’s cold and dark in the morning, it keeps you disciplined.”

Brown said he contacted Richard Wigglesworth, who stepped in as interim head coach in December following Steve Borthwick’s appointment by England, when he learned the Premiership champions may be in need of extra resources in their back division.

“I’d heard on the grapevine that Leicester might need some cover,” Brown said. “I dropped Wiggy a message and said: ‘I’m available, ready to go, I’ve been staying fit. I would love to come and contribute and feel like I can do that.’”

Looking to the meeting on Friday with Edinburgh, who qualified in fifth place from Pool A in the Champions Cup, Brown said: “We’re pumped as a group to be in the knockout stages of what we think is the best club competition in the world … Leicester Tigers of old, the history they’ve got in the competition – we want to