EFL Cup: Walsall 3 Huddersfield 2: Saddlers produce stunning comeback

Goals from Josh Koroma and Josh Ruffels guided Huddersfield into a two-goal lead inside 53 minutes while Lowe was denied from the spot by Chris Maxwell.

But Lowe recovered from his penalty miss to haul Walsall level with a brace in seven second half minutes. Liam Gordon completed a remarkable comeback with the winner in the 77th minute to send Walsall into the EFL Cup third round for the first time since 2015.

Mat Sadler made eight changes from Saturday's 1-0 defeat at Tranmere Rovers. Sam Hornby was handed his competitive debut between the sticks while Stoke City loanee Nathan Lowe made his first start after a cameo from the bench at Prenton Park.

Visitors Huddersfield also made six changes although joint-leading scorers Ben Wiles and Callum Marshall (two goals each) both started.

Lowe almost capped his Bescot bow with an early opener when he slotted a glorious opportunity agonisingly wide of the target. Ryan Stirk cleverly intercepted when Walsall squeezed up to prevent Huddersfield from playing out and spotted Albert Adomah hovering between the lines.

Adomah spun into space and fed Lowe with a perfectly weighted pass but the Stoke City loanee dispatched his finish just inches away from the right bottom corner with just Huddersfield goalkeeper Chris Maxwell to beat.

Walsall would be made to rue that missed chance when Koroma opened the scoring at the other end. Ben Wiles broke into a corridor of space down the inside left channel and found Koroma with his cutback to the edge of the penalty area.

Koroma was afforded time and space to take aim and the Sierra Leonne international did so with aplomb as he drove his low finish into the far bottom corner.

Huddersfield went in search of a quickfire second when Koroma almost found himself one-on-one with Hornby until Evan Weir came to the rescue with a heroic last-ditch challenge. The Yorkshire outfit kept the attack alive but former Albion loanee Marshall failed to hit the target from outside the box.

Stand-in skipper Stirk came close to an equaliser on the half-hour mark when his fizzing low shot whistled wide of the far post. Walsall ended the first period brightly with Huddersfield visibly finding it difficult to contain the runs in behind.

That was even more evident when Pearson was given his early marching orders for hauling down Earing when he brought down a long ball to find himself through on goal.

Walsall had a golden opportunity to level the contest just after the start when Maher was pushed inside the penalty area. Lowe stepped up but Maxwell plunged to the left to thwart him as Walsall missed their third spot-kick in four matches.

That would come back to bite them once again when Ruffels climbed highest to head Anthony Evans' corner into the roof of the net.

However, Walsall, with a numerical advantage, were unrelenting in their quest to fightback and deservedly halved the deficit through Lowe just after the hour-mark.

Earing curled a dangerous free-kick into the box which was only partially cleared and Lowe lashed his finish into the far bottom corner to ignite an enthralling comeback.

The Bescot was bouncing and the Walsall players met the electricity from the home crowd with a brave and determined performance. Within seven minutes, Walsall reaped the rewards when Lowe made it a home debut to remember with an equalising brace.

Sadler had made a triple change just before Walsall's first goal and two of those combined to set-up Lowe. It came from a sumptuous cross-field switch from Evan Weir who catapulted the ball out to the right from inside his own half.

Lakin helped the ball on to Adomah, who had reverted to right wing-back, and his cross was cushioned down by Josh Gordon for Lowe to apply a composed finish into the bottom corner.

The volume increased further after the equaliser and Walsall completed the turnaround 13 minutes from time when Liam Gordon drilled a low finish into the far bottom corner with the aid of a deflection.

Huddersfield had a golden chance to equalise when Kian Harratt was gifted a free header inside the box but the substitute was unable to direct on target from point-blank range.

Lowe had two more chances to complete his hat-trick when his close-range header was impressively foiled by Maxwell from close quarters, before his audacious long-range effort was clawed away by the backpedalling Huddersfield goalkeeper.

Walsall Starting XI (3-1-4-2): Hornby; Okagbue, Williams, Weir; Stirk (c) (Lakin 61); C Barrett (J Gordon 61), Earing (Allen 73), Maher (Jellis 61), L Gordon; Lowe, Adomah.

Not used: Simkin, G Barrett, McEntee, Thomas, Matt.

Huddersfield (3-1-4-2): Maxwell; Turton, Pearson, Ruffels; Hogg; Sorensen (Helik 46), Evans (Jones 86), Wiles (Iorpenda 67), Headley; Koroma (Harratt 67), Marshall (Ward 46).

Not used: Nicholls, Chapman, Mrisho, Ashia.

Referee: Edward Duckworth

Attendance: 3,378 (632)