Boss praise for teenager after he more than holds his own against League One leaders.

David Artell has suggested that another of the club’s young defenders, Connor O’Riordan could well follow the recent example set by Zac Williams and earn himself more involvement with the first team squad.

The 18-year-old produced another solid display against Rotherham United in the Papa John’s Trophy and was arguably one of Crewe’s stand-out performers in what eventually became a 4-2 defeat to the current League One leaders.

O’Riordan was making just his second senior appearance following his debut against Doncaster Rovers in the previous round and he did his chances of future outings this season no harm with an assured performance.

Following the home defeat in the EFL Trophy, the Alex boss said: “Connor was good again. He was good in the last round against Doncaster up against a good player and he was good again against the like of Michael Smith and Will Grigg. I thought he did very well for an 18-year-old and for only his second appearance.

“He is another one with a bright future. I thought he was a bright spark for us and there were more good performances than there were at Burton on Saturday and Connor’s performance was certainly one of those.”