King’s Lynn manager James Rowe believes summer signing Joe Nyahwema is destined to play in the Football League.
The exciting forward, who joined from Spalding at the end of June, was man-of-the-match as the Linnets drew 1-1 with AFC Telford on the opening day of the National League North season.
He caused all sorts of problems with his pace and Rowe says he’d have bought him based on his performance had he been a watching EFL manager in the crowd.
Rowe, who takes the Linnets to Hereford this Saturday (3pm), wants to hold on to Nyahwema for as long as possible, but his talent is clear for all to see.
“Are we developing our players in the changing room to go and play in the Football League?” said Rowe, speaking after the Telford draw.
“That’s what we want to do. We want to be that club.
“There’s going to be mistakes because it’s our first real go at it, where we’re plucking players from around the country and bringing them here and providing them with accommodation and full-time training.
“If I was watching today, I’d buy Joe.
“If I was watching the game, I’d buy him, so I don’t know (how long it will take for someone to sign him).”
Rowe, taking charge of his first competitive game as King’s Lynn manager, was delighted with the performance against Telford.
They trailed to a first-half penalty from Matthew Stenson but Michael Gyasi scored a deserved equaliser on the hour mark.
The display bodes well for Rowe as he looks to mount a promotion challenge at his new club.
“I’m proud because we’re a young group and the enthusiasm and the attacking intent we played with was outstanding,” he said.
“To have 24 shots at home, you expect to score more than one goal, and I think we got 34 box entries as well, so those stats back up the pride.
“A young group could have gone the other way, but they’ve showed great character, they’ve come out even stronger.
“We played better in the second half, which I thought for 30 minutes before their goal, we were very, very good.
“It’s everything that I know about the league as well. It was physical, it was energetic.
“You play that game ten times, you win it nine and draw the other one.”
The match attracted a big home crowd of 1,354 to The Walks.
There was no shortage of entertainment for Linnets’ fans and Rowe wants to keep it that way.
He said: “I was so pleased with the crowd. I thought the crowd were right behind the team.
“It’s important that we get the crowd with us early on and hopefully that performance [will help].
“Yes, we didn’t get our rewards of three points but if you play like that 45 times going forward, then you’re going to have a great chance and hopefully we’re a young team that the support base can get behind.”
The Hereford match is the first of back-to-back away games for King’s Lynn, who make the trip to Spennymoor Town on Tuesday (7.45pm).
