Stoke's Lowe reveals help from sports pychologist

Nathan Lowe impressed on loan at Walsall

Stoke City forward Nathan Lowe says he puts his impressive first half of the season down to seeing a sports psychologist.

Lowe scored 15 league goals on loan at Walsall before being recalled by his parent club in January, and scored in his first match back for the Potters in the 1-1 draw with West Brom.

At the time of his recall, the 19-year-old was the English Football League's joint top scorer.

"I think it's helped my communication with the other players," Lowe told BBC Radio Stoke.

"Coming back to Stoke, I feel more part of the team. Intrinsically, I feel more able to speak up. I feel I am more able to speak up and speak my mind.

"The biggest thing for me was working outside of the club and hiring a sports psychologist that has worked with Olympians.

"It's such a massive part of the game now, the psychology element - it's half the battle.

"I feel a more confident player, and I'm sure the Stoke fans have seen the difference from when I left to when I came back."

Lowe has been working with David Galbraith, a psychologist who worked with the Japan rugby team ahead of the 2023 World Cup, as well as New Zealand's most successful Olympian of all time, Lisa Carrington - an eight-time gold-medal-winning canoeist.

"He's worked with a bunch of Olympians and high-level athletes. It wasn't really specific to football," Lowe added.

"I'm still doing sessions with him now monthly, and I'm catching up with him tomorrow. He's helped me massively."