Mat Sadler: Nathan Lowe showed why Walsall waited to make transfer swoop
Mat Sadler believes Stoke City loanee Nathan Lowe showcased exactly why Walsall waited patiently for him after his home debut double in their 3-2 comeback victory over Huddersfield Town in the EFL Cup.
Goals from Josh Koroma and Josh Ruffels provided Huddersfield with a two-goal cushion after 53 minutes while Lowe was denied from the spot by Chris Maxwell just moments before the Terriers' second.
Yet the Bescot boomed to Walsall's relentless quest to fight back and Lowe was instrumental to that turnaround with a seven-minute brace to haul the Saddlers level.
18-year-old Lowe was one of the two players that Walsall had previously tried to sign earlier in the window and Sadler felt he showed promising early signs of why he was so keen to bring him to Bescot.
"Nathan rightly gets the plaudits in his first start for us and I think I'm right in saying that it's his first start in professional football," Sadler said.
"To then put in a 95 minute performance in the way that he did was incredible and a testament to the fitness that he has maintained during pre-season over at Stoke.
"We've wanted to wait for Nathan. He's been one of the ones that when you guys are hounding me about signing strikers, I wanted to wait for the right ones and Nathan showed tonight and he's going to have to continue to show why we wait for him.
Liam Gordon's low drive later went down as an own goal from Michal Helik as Walsall completed a remarkable turnaround in the 77th minute.
And with Sadler making no fewer than eight changes and introducing a further four from the bench, the Walsall manager said he was proud of a real team performance.
"It was a great win. I thought it was thoroughly deserved and we were under no illusions in the first half with 11 men, I felt very comfortable within the game and by the way they're a good team," he continued.
"Testament to our defenders that there was that real pace and tempo to their movement that sometimes it gives you four or five minutes to readjust to. We adjusted quickly to that and stamped our authority on the game.
"We missed a couple of chances and of course we missed a penalty. It was a real thoroughly deserved victory tonight which is amazing to say against a team that have won all four of their games in the division above.
"I am extremely proud of the football club tonight and for how everyone came together in that way. The resilience from the team to comeback, the determination to not let ourselves go out of the cup was there for all to see."
