3/1 To Win
After spending the second half of last season on loan at Shrewsbury Town, Max Lowe is determined to fight his way back into the Derby County first team fold.
The left-back enjoyed a breakthrough 2016/17 season as he made 12 appearances for the Rams, before injury ended his campaign in February.
That problem continued into last season but after advancing his recovery with Darren Wassall’s Under-23s, Lowe went out to the Sky Bet League One club to gain some more valuable experience.
Now, with his injuries hopefully behind him, Lowe has laid out his targets for the upcoming campaign.
He told RamsTV: “Things have gone really well for me, I struggled with injuries coming into pre-season but that is all behind me now and I’m looking forward to the future.
“I want to play as many games as possible, so for me to be injury free again, it’s a dream and hopefully that will stay the same as I move forward.
“I knew that I was at a level, probably the highest level of my career where I was playing for the first team.
“I took a step back to get my fitness going again with the Under-23s, and to then go out on loan to a top League One side in Shrewsbury, there is nothing wrong with that because I needed to get where I wanted to be for pre-season.
“It was a dream come true to make my debut, but I want to double my appearances next season and I believe that I can do that.”
Although Shrewsbury’s promotion bid fell just short at Wembley Stadium with an extra-time defeat against Rotherham United in the play-off final, Lowe believes that the spell will stand him in good stead when he returns to the Training Centre.
He said: “Personally, I didn’t feel ready [to go out on loan] because I had been so comfortable at Derby, but I needed it because it turns you into a man.
“I’m quite a boring guy! It was difficult because my Mum, Dad and little brother weren’t there so it took time to get used to, but Shrewsbury is a nice place and I was lucky to be there.
“I’ve improved the physical side massively, I feel that my heading and defensive play has improved and hopefully that will show will see that when we come back for pre-season.”
Lowe was one of many Derby youngsters to head out on loan, and he is sure that this is a demonstration of the quality that the academy is bringing through.
“Charles [Vernam] came back from his loan after injury, Callum [Guy] did really well at Bradford and Offrande [Zanzala] won promotion so it’s all looking good for the academy,” he added.
“I’ve been playing with the Under-23s for a while and there are a lot of younger players coming through, with the likes of Luke Thomas and Jayden Bogle who have been a part of the first team.
“They are really good players and it’s a good bunch of lads.”
