Nathan Lowe drops classy message upon Walsall return after Stoke City recall | OneFootball

Nathan Lowe spoke about his time at Walsall ahead of their play-off semi-final second leg clash against Chesterfield.

Stoke City striker Nathan Lowe returned to Walsall on Friday evening to watch his former loan club beat Chesterfield to send them on their way to Wembley.

The young striker enjoyed an incredible loan spell with the Saddlers in the first half of the season, which saw the Midlands club sit 15 points clear of fourth-placed AFC Wimbledon before he departed.

Lowe scored 15 goals and assisted a further five in his 22 appearances for Walsall, as he was instrumental in their success early doors.

After he left, Mat Sadler's side collapsed and somehow missed out on automatic promotion after being pipped by Bradford City in stoppage time on the final day.

However, in the presence of their former star striker, Walsall got their promotion bid back on track by beating Chesterfield 4-1 on aggregate to send them marching down Wembley Way on May 26th.

Nathan Lowe sends emotional message on Walsall return

The 19-year-old was present at the Bescot Stadium to watch his former employers make the play-off final on Friday, and also appeared on the Sky Sports panel pre-match.

When quizzed about his spell at the club, Lowe dropped a heartfelt message to his former fans, saying: "I can't thank them [the Walsall fans] enough for the support, and I have some very fond memories coming back here.

"It was a little bit emotional on the way in. I'm very grateful for what they've given me.

"A few goals scored [by Lowe] on this pitch and good times [were] had."

The teenager is clearly still grateful for the time he spent at Walsall, and will remain hopeful that his first loan spell will be the catalyst to help push on his career.

Walsall will be gutted with Nathan Lowe's Stoke situation

Sadly for Sadler, his side somewhat capitulated after Stoke opted to recall Lowe in January. The Potters lost their striker in Tom Cannon after Leicester City recalled him to sell him to Sheffield United.

It was expected that the Walsall loanee would be recalled and utilised as Cannon's replacement. However, that hasn't been the case, which will leave the Saddlers feeling rather hard done by.

Since his return to the Bet365Stadium, Lowe has made just 10 Championship appearances and only five of those have been starts. He's notched up just a single goal in this time, which will be extremely frustrating for the striker.

The 19-year-old was flourishing at Walsall, which was doing wonders for his development. You get the feeling that judging by his playtime at Stoke, it would've been more beneficial for Lowe himself to see out the season in the Midlands.

This also had huge implications for the Saddlers' season, as they dropped a 15-point cushion over the play-offs to end up missing out on automatic promotion.

The lack of minutes at Stoke will be gutting for Walsall when you consider how vital Lowe was to their success. If they fail to do the job at Wembley, fans will look back at the teenager's recall as the moment that changed what looked to be a title-winning season.