DANNY BROWN has signed up for a relegation scrap with Eastbourne Borough after rejecting the opportunity to return to the Football League.

Brown turned down offers from League Two outfit Chester City and Blue Square premier play-off chasers Kettering to commit his future to Borough.

The former Leyton Orient, Barnet and Oxford United midfielder arrived at Priory Lane on loan from Cambridge United in November with a view to making the deal permanent when the transfer window reopened.

Despite the chance to get back into full-time football Brown has been impressed with what he has seen at Borough and has agreed to sign until the end of the season.

The 28-year-old, who lives in Essex, said: “It was a massive decision to turn down the chance to play full-time football again but I decided it was the right one for me at this moment in time.

“I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of interest I had from other clubs and the fact two full-time clubs came in meant I had a lot of thinking to do.

“But in the end it boiled down to the amount of travelling involved. I didn’t want to drive that far every day and at my stage of life I’m not prepared to uproot my family and move.

“The fact that they are a really good bunch of lads at Eastbourne also played a big part in my decision. I’ve settled in really well and the manager seems to have got the club going in the right direction.

“I’m not in any rush to find a job yet and am going to try to maintain full-time training on my own as much as possible by going to the gym.

“Then I can reassess things at the end of the season and work out whether I want to find a full-time club or stay at Eastbourne.”

The likelihood of Brown remaining at Priory Lane next season will depend heavily on whether Borough can avoid an instant return to Blue Square south.

Borough are currently six places and five points above the drop zone and the former Crawley midfielder is confident they can steer clear of trouble.

He added: “The last thing on my mind is getting relegated. I’m not even thinking about that as I think we have shown over the last few months that we are more than capable of staying up.

“We’re in a pretty good position at the moment but there is a long way to go so we’ve got to concentrate on picking up points and climbing the table.”

Brown has not played since injurying his back in the 2-0 defeat at Burton Albion at the end of November and is unlikely to feature at Lewes on New Year’s Day A scan has since shown he cracked two ribs when he fell heavily at the Pirelli Stadium but he is due to return to training today and could be involved against former club Oxford on Saturday.

Assistant manager Nick Greenwood is delighted to have secured Brown’s services on a permanent basis. He said: “It was always the idea that he would join permanently in January but he had to see how he adjusted to part-time football.

“It is great credit to ourselves that he can see the potential here and wants to be a part of it and we are delighted to secure a player of his calibre for the rest of the season.”