Nathan Wood helped Crewe Alexandra to three points and a clean sheet against in-form Accrington Stanley last night.

The on-loan Middlesbrough defender has forced his way into Dave Artell’s starting line-up ahead of the unfortunate Olly Lancashire and the talented 18-year-old is hoping to keep his place to face Boro rivals, Sunderland this weekend at Gresty Road.

Ahead of this weekend’s intriguing clash against Sunderland, Wood told the club’s official web-site: “I have been at Boro since the age of 13 and it is my hometown club. To make my debut for the club that I grew up with was amazing.

“Since I made my debut at 16, I’ve made 11 appearances for Boro over two years and I consider that not a lot so I wanted to come out and play games in men’s football. I want to take that back to Middlesbrough and push on from there.

“I am excited to be at Crewe. It is an ambitious club and there are some great fixtures coming up for us. Hopefully, if I am selected to play, I can do my best to help the club. Obviously with the rivalry with Boro, it would be great to play against Sunderland and get one over them.

Nathan added: “It would be fantastic game to be involved in and it just a shame that the fans won’t be there to make it an incredible atmosphere inside the stadium. “