Predator Lowe has Latics in his sights

Ryan Lowe

ATHLETIC must have thought they had seen the back of striker Ryan Lowe.

A lower-league predator with a fine goalscoring record, Lowe has attracted admiring glances from SportsDirect.com Park over the years.

It was no secret that former Athletic boss Lee Johnson was interested in signing the player when he was plying his trade at Tranmere.

But the deal was never done and last season Lowe joined Bury, who were then in Sky Bet League Two.

Not for long they weren’t. Lowe, who signed a two-year deal at Gigg Lane, netted 11 times as the ambitious Shakers gained promotion.

Further player investment took place at Gigg Lane and Lowe found himself out in the cold. At the age of 37, things were not looking promising given he had not pulled on a Bury shirt since the end of August.

LIFELINE

Step forward Crewe Alexandra and their boss Steve Davis to hand Lowe a lifeline.

A loan deal was offered to Lowe and the striker, who played for the Alex from 2006 until 2008, jumped at the chance to return to Crewe until the beginning of January.

And he made an immediate and startling impact in Tuesday night’s 3-2 at Colchester as the Railwaymen hit back from 2-0 down.

Coming on as a substitute, he set up Marcus Haber for the equaliser before producing a sensational winner in stoppage time.

Given his previous success against Athletic — most notably in a Tranmere shirt — Lowe is sure to be looking forward to Saturday’s clash of the two clubs at Gresty Road.

Manager Davis, whose first game in charge of Crewe ended in a 3-1 away loss to Athletic in a Johnstone’s Paint Cup-tie in November, 2011, must be feeling the pressure with his side four points short of safety in the division, but the midweek win will have lifted morale in the camp.

Athletic and other clubs around them will be in Crewe’s sights as they bid to continue on an upward curve.