Max Lowe is looking ahead to a first team return after making his comeback in Derby County Under-23s’ 2-0 win against unbeaten Liverpool on Monday night.
The left-back hasn’t played since he started the 1-0 defeat at Blackburn Rovers at the end of February after suffering groin and then hernia problems, but he came through the first half without any issues in difficult conditions.
Lowe hopes that the appearance if the first step of many on his eventual return to the first team picture, and he’s already eying competition with Gary Rowett’s current left-sided defenders.
Speaking to RamsTV, he said: “Mentally it has been hard, I’ve been so close to playing games and then I’ve picked up a niggle.
“Hopefully, if everything goes well, I can play 60 or 70 minutes on Saturday and then hopefully the week after I can get 90 minutes under my belt, then I hope I’ll be back with the first team.
“Especially after the result against Forest, I can’t wait to get back in there and hopefully I can push Fozzy and Marcus, so I’m looking forward to it.”
Liverpool boasted a 100% record in the Premier League 2 and they fielded several first team fringe players from the outset at St George’s Park, something that Lowe believes made the victory even more impressive.
He added: “We were expecting them to put their best team out, they’ve been on a good run but we played well.
“It’s great to get 45 minutes under my belt, it was topped off by a great performance by the lads and to beat Liverpool is good, especially with them being undefeated.”
Charles Vernam and Alex Babos both scored second half goals as Derby showcased their counter-attacking ability, with the extreme conditions playing a part in proceedings.
The 20-year-old hailed the influence of two experienced heads in Darren Wassall’s starting eleven as the Rams fought their way through a difficult first half, before taking advantage after the break.
On Jason Shackell and Alex Pearce, Lowe said: “They took the lead and we followed. We knew that we were going to get something from the game if we kept a clean sheet.
“We knew that we were going to create chances and that’s what we did in the end.
“It was hard playing into the wind, I thought we did really well, we were solid, we didn’t take a lot of chances at the back because we couldn’t afford to.”