What Mark Robins is doing on training pitch to help Stoke City prospect..
Nathan Lowe is desperate to learn as much as he can under Mark Robins and speaks about the value of Stoke City’s loan relationship with Walsall..
Nathan Lowe wants to soak up as much as he can from Mark Robins as he tries to take his Stoke City chance with both hands.
Lowe was recalled from a superb loan spell in League Two with Walsall in January with a challenge of helping Stoke resolve a goal problem in the Championship. The 19-year-old scored on his first game back, at West Brom, and has kept the shirt while never getting ahead of himself. He is enjoying the chance to learn on the training ground and is enjoying being given bits of advice and wisdom from the new manager.
“I try to be as professional as possible and take as much as I can from him,” said Lowe. “He’s had a great career as a striker and as a manager as well; been there, done it and got the T-shirt. As a striker it’s really important you take as much as you can on board, listen to advice and not think that you know everything. I’m 19 years of age, of course I don’t know everything.
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“I’d like to think that I’ve impressed him enough to stay around it and he’s always said to me that it’s down to performances whether you’re in the team or not. The onus is on me to go out on a Saturday or Wednesday to go and give it my best and perform, which I’d do anyway, but is so important. I’ve been given a chance and I have to take it with both hands.”
He added: “To think of an example, we were doing a finishing drill in training on Monday and I was doing my
Lowe is one in a hat-trick of Stoke players who have been on loan to Walsall this season, on the back of David Okagbue’s loan there last term which he made permanent in the summer.
Tommy Simkin is starring in goal as they chase the title while midfielder Darius Lipsiuc joined on loan at the end of last month to get his first taste of senior football.
own head in because I couldn’t strike the ball cleanly. I didn’t know what was wrong with me. He was bouncing ball in from the edge of the area and he was giving me tips about lower back lift and getting my body in line with the ball so you’re less likely to mis-hit it. It’s little bits here and there rather than sitting down to go through an hour of clips.
“It’s things I try to take in and work on in training session to come, nothing monumental but little bits that I can tell are really going to help me as a player.”
Lowe said: “It’s a great club for developing players. I had a great time there and the coaching staff were brilliant with me. They gave me a chance to go out and play ahead of seasoned players who they could have chosen easily over me. I like to think I repaid their faith in the end.
“It’s really important that you go into a culture where they trust youth. Tommy has pretty much been playing every game and hopefully Darius smashes it and gets game time too.
“It’s a great club and hopefully the relationship between Stoke and Walsall stays strong for years to come and they can benefit from our youth players because we have a great set-up here at Stoke. Long may that continue.”
Lowe can feel the benefit of his half-season out on loan now.
