The Sheffield Wednesday instruction Jamal Lowe was given that led to EFL award success
Jamal Lowe scored three goals in Sheffield Wednesday’s first three league games to win the League One Player of the Month award for August.
For the first time in exactly four years, an EFL Player of the Month award was delivered to Middlewood Road last week.
Jamal Lowe was crowned League One Player of the Month last Friday, becoming the first Sheffield Wednesday player to win a monthly EFL prize since Liam Palmer in August 2022.
The attacker enjoyed a strong August, scoring three goals and registering one assist in the Owls’ opening three matches. His contributions helped Wednesday beat Leyton Orient (2-1) and Bromley (7-2), either side of a 1-0 defeat to Bradford City.
Despite Wednesday rebuilding their attack over the summer, bringing in the likes of Mason Burstow, Ali Al-Hamadi, Louie Barry and Davis Keillor-Dunn, it is Lowe who currently leads the Owls’ goalscoring charts.
Although he struggled to make his mark on the game against Wigan Athletic on Saturday, as did several of his teammates, the Jamaican has enjoyed a very productive start to the season after regularly facing unfair criticism last term.
Despite being tasked with playing in a handful of different roles so far this season, Owls manager Henrik Pedersen has revealed that he is trying to encourage the former Swansea City man to remain as close to the goal as possible.
“I think Jamal has been really strong,” Pedersen told The Star. “I sometimes say to Jamal, ‘You play in the No.9 position, but you have No.10 on your back. You are a No.9, but you are too far away from the goal’.
“I think how hard he has worked for the team has been amazing. But also, his discipline to be more of a No.9, where he keeps himself higher up the pitch and is more central, means he has more deep runs and more time when he comes into the box.
“I think he has been very, very strong.”
Although he has been unable to get himself on the scoresheet in each of Wednesday’s last two outings, Lowe has already scored one more goal this season than he managed in the whole of last term. In the opinion of Pedersen, he will also gain plenty of confidence from scooping the first EFL Player of the Month award of his career.
The Owls boss added: “It’s amazing. He just has to keep on going, and the team will support him with everything they can. I know he will support the team with everything he can.
“Then we will take the next step together.”