BLACKBURN Rovers midfielder Jason Lowe is determined to come back stronger from the injury that wrecked his season.

The 23-year-old was able to make only 14 appearances in 2014-15 after suffering a stress fracture in his foot.

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Lowe originally tried to play through the pain but after two aborted comebacks he eventually went under the knife in February.

The operation was declared a success and the former England U21s international is expected to make his return to full training early next month.

Lowe said: “It was a really testing and frustrating season for me but these things happen in football and it’s all about how you bounce back.

“I’m feeling good at the minute and getting back to the fitness where I want to be going into the new season.

“So hopefully when pre-season gets under way I’ll be back with the boys in no time.

“I came back on two occasions and it felt really good in both spells.

“Yes I was aware of it but I consulted with the medical team and obviously they’ve been through these things a lot of times with various results.

“It’s just how your body is and unfortunately for me it worked out the wrong way and I was trying to play through some pain and it went again, but hopefully it’s a lot stronger now after the operation.

“It was my first operation and I was a bit nervous but I had to go down that route because for a bone to heal you’re talking a couple of years and as a footballer you don’t have that time.

“But it’s made it a lot stronger and I’m getting more confident on it and hopefully it holds up for the rest of my career.”

Lowe has been a regular at Rovers’ Brockhall training base over the summer in an effort to get in shape for the start of pre-season which gets under way next week.

He first sustained the injury in the friendly against Stoke City last summer but it was not until August that the pain became too much to bear.

He spent three months on the sidelines before returning to first-team action in December but he made only two appearances before the problem flared up again.

Lowe spent another four weeks in the treatment room before he made a fresh comeback in January which lasted just six games.

He said: “You always want to play as many games as you can and try and get results for the club, that’s the main thing.

“So if you feel you can play through pain or a niggle, and you feel you can still play to a level you expect yourself to be at, then I think you should do it. That’s my mentality.

“Obviously it looks like it backfired on me but that’s football and if you ask any player, a lot of the time I don’t think we’re ever 100 per cent fit, we are always carrying a little knock here and there.

“I was no different and it was a situation I found myself in but hopefully I’m on the mend now and it’s in the past.

“I was involved in just 14 games last season and by my own standards I want to be right up there in the 30s and 40s this season.

“I’ll only do that by being fit and hopefully the gaffer picks me, I play well and we’ll go from there.”