'Football isn't the be-all and end-all' - Stoke's Nathan Lowe on loan life and his degree

Stoke City guardant Nathan Lowe has been successful sensational signifier connected indebtedness astatine Walsall, with the youngster's awesome tally of extremity contributions landing him the EFL Young Player of the Month award

As 2024 draws to a close, everything is adding up some connected and disconnected the transportation for Walsall loanee Nathan Lowe.

Nobody boasts arsenic galore extremity contributions (10) successful League Two than the 19-year-old guardant from Stoke, who was crowned EFL Young Player of the Month this week.

But the youngster, who speaks with a maturity beyond his tender years, has vowed that helium won't beryllium getting carried distant anytime soon. And you'd beryllium a fool not to judge him.

For Lowe, shot has ne'er been the be-all and end-all. That was drilled into him by his parents, who stressed the value of staying grounded with his studies during his younger years. It's paid disconnected handsomely and Lowe speaks with the aforesaid infectious enthusiasm astir his Business Management grade arsenic helium does whilst discussing his goalscoring exploits for the Saddlers.

"My shot was conditional connected the information that I was inactive achieving bully grades," helium explains to Mirror Football. "Maths was astir apt my favourite taxable but it changed implicit the years. I didn't consciousness similar myself erstwhile I went retired of acquisition aft I finished my BTEC [to gain his scholarship]. It felt similar I was missing something, truthful I went backmost into it.

"Football has ne'er been the be-all and end-all for me. It's a large mode for maine to walk my clip productively. I'm not idiosyncratic that tin spell location and peculiarly ticker a batch of football.

"I deliberation it helps maine that shot is not my full personality; It doesn't specify me. I cognize that I'm not conscionable a stereotypical footballer and that helps my assurance [on the pitch]."

Confidence is, perhaps, the astir precious commodity of each to a striker and Lowe has it coursing done his veins. He already has 10 goals and 4 assists to his sanction successful each competitions for Walsall, who person notched the 2nd astir goals (27) successful the league.

While Lowe has done the concern astatine 1 extremity of the pitch, his team-mate and friend, Tommy Simkin, has been engaged keeping the goals retired astatine the different end. The talented goalkeeper (also 19) besides belongs to Stoke, with the duo heading to The Bescot successful sync.

"That helps [knowing people] with the modulation process," admits Lowe, whose acquisition surviving successful digs erstwhile helium moved to Stoke from Hertfordshire astatine the property of 10 meant helium wasn't overawed astatine the imaginable of heading to the Midlands alone.

"All the lads person been unreal. They've treated maine similar 1 of their own, not similar a younker player. Sometimes you tin spell into a spot and they mightiness marque you consciousness antithetic due to the fact that you're younger and you're not successful the aforesaid benignant of vessel arsenic them.

"I deliberation this grant is benignant of testament to each their characters successful the changing room, due to the fact that they've allowed maine to beryllium me."

Experience is 1 happening Walsall are not abbreviated of erstwhile it comes to the apical extremity of the pitch. With Jamille Matt (35), Danny Johnson (31) and Josh Gordon (30), Lowe has had plentifulness of opportunities to glean arsenic overmuch arsenic helium tin from players who person been there, done that and got the t-shirt.

"I'm obscurity adjacent the finished nonfiction - I astir apt ne'er volition beryllium - truthful immoderate small tidbits I tin larn from much experienced players [is invaluable]. I look astatine Jamma [Matt]: he's got a 16-year vocation oregon thing similar that. He's been playing astir arsenic agelong arsenic I’ve been alive, and he’s truly taken maine nether his wing. We play up beforehand unneurotic astir weeks and person astir developed a benignant of classical No.9 and No.10 partnership.

"It's been a monolithic privilege and it's helped maine truthful overmuch already. If you'd asked maine astatine the commencement of the season, I'd person spot your manus disconnected for [his existent stats]."

As with immoderate young player's archetypal loan, determination person been peaks and troughs. When asked to pinpoint his lowest moment, Lowe instantly recalls a punishment miss against Huddersfield Town successful the League Cup.

"It was my archetypal commencement astatine location and I've missed the archetypal punishment I've ever missed successful my life. I'm talking genuinely, I couldn't archer you a punishment aft Under-10s that I've missed. And I've missed my archetypal ever nonrecreational 1 successful a game."

Keeping successful enactment with however his play has gone, Lowe promptly made amends by dispatching 2 goals to assistance Mat Sadler's broadside upset their League One opponents.

He makes nary effort to downplay the value of that moment, adjacent though it was 1 of the archetypal games of his indebtedness spell.

"Had that happened six months agone I astir apt would person thrown my toys retired of the pram and sulked. It could person turned toxic existent speedy with the fans and they mightiness not person taken to maine arsenic kindly [as they have].

"I conscionable thought, 'You're astatine stone bottom, it can't get immoderate worse - you mightiness arsenic good spell for it'. And past I got one, I didn't adjacent observe it. I needed different one. And I wanted the third, but it didn't come.

"It was bittersweet aft the crippled due to the fact that I was inactive embarrassed astir missing the penalty. But I'd accidental that was astir apt [his astir important] moment."

Walsall had to bide their clip to onshore Lowe successful the summer. After staying successful and astir the squad astatine Stoke during the 2nd fractional of the 2023-24 play erstwhile helium was primitively slated to caput retired connected loan, injuries threatened to scupper his plans again.

It's wide from spending clip successful his institution however grateful helium is that the Saddlers showed patience to get a woody implicit the line.

"They've already invested successful me. It's a precise bully situation for maine to turn and thrive.

"I'm precise fortunate to with what I've been capable to acquisition successful the past mates of years. Playing games for Stoke, which I'm precise arrogant of, and past coming connected indebtedness and playing a clump of games successful League Two portion inactive being beauteous young. I'm conscionable truly grateful for the presumption I'm successful and for everyone that's got maine to this constituent now."

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