The left-back is in Moscow with the England Under-18s squad as they look to make it double joy with another victory over Russia on Wednesday following on from their 2-0 win two days ago.
With Paul Clement appointed as his new club boss last week, Lowe is hoping to follow in the footsteps of his friend and fellow Rams youngster and England U21s midfielder Hughes by not only breaking into the first-team fold at the iPro Stadium but moving up through the age groups with his country too.
Russia v England
International U18 Match
4pm, Wednesday 10 June 2015
Arena Khimki, Moscow
“I think it’s going to be the biggest year of my career so far. I have to prove that I’m ready and good enough to be involved within the first-team," he told TheFA.com
"From what I’ve been told, Paul Clement is going to give us younger lads a chance to prove that, so it’s all down to me really.
“Will Hughes is someone for me to take inspiration from and he is brilliant with us younger lads. He has a good relationship with us and looking up to him, it’s something that is not that far out of my hands and I have belief in myself that I can do it too.
“He has told me that it’s up to me and I just have to play football and it will come.
“I just need to be consistent in every game, defend first and when I’m training with the first-team I need to be confident.”
Max Lowe and his team-mates met youngsters from local charity Step Up in Moscow on Wednesday
Lowe, who was an unused sub for the match on Monday, has his first opportunity to impress on Wednesday afternoon when he lines up in Moscow for his country.
He has featured three times for Neil Dewsnip’s Young Lions this campaign, and he is determined to end his year with the U18s in winning fashion.
“Everyone who played in the first game did really well and as a team we had to fight through some difficult moments. We did really well to come away with a clean sheet and the goals we scored were top quality,” he said.
“We have to take that into the second game now. We spoke about the senior side not winning in Russia since 1973 so it was a great achievement for us to get that win.
"We know we have the talent in this squad and we did it quite comfortably, but we came here for two victories and we have to ensure we do it again on Wednesday.
Max Lowe in action for Italy earlier this season
“You always want to end the season on a high, and next year we are going into U19s and the Euros again. We want to keep that confidence going into next season.”
Away from the pitch, Lowe and his team-mates have enjoyed their experience of Moscow, particularly meeting some local youngster from the Step Up charity when they joined the squad for training on Tuesday.
“It was really good as it helps you to understand how much the game can affect peoples’ lives. Just seeing the smiles on some of their faces made all of us lot smile as well,” he explained.
“Being a kid you always look up to England players, and I suppose they were in our shoes a little bit looking up to us – so that makes us feel all the more proud when we were training with him. It shows how much football means to people.
“Even though they are Russian, you could see having a kickaround with an England squad had an impact on them and I was just happy to meet them.
“One of their lads had a decent shot on him and scored a few past Magnus Norman. They had some good players though, it was really enjoyable.”
The squad visited Red Square on Tuesday afternoon
Following on from that, the players were allowed some downtime on Tuesday afternoon as they visited the iconic Red Square.
“Seeing Red Square was amazing,” added Lowe. “My mum and dad spoke to me about it before this trip. Maybe not now with all the lads, but when we look back on it in a few years I’m sure we will all think what a great experience that was.
“I’ve got to be honest and admit I thought Moscow would be quite rough to be fair. That’s what a lot of people think, but it really isn’t. The hotel is one of the best I’ve stayed at, the people have been really nice and the food is great.
“The training facilities have been first-class too and I really think that Moscow is a great place.”
Follow @England on Twitter for live updates from Arena Khimki on Wednesday afternoon, kick-off 4pm.
