Grinning from ear-to-ear after Saturday’s 1-0 victory over Crawley Town, Eli King said he is enjoying every aspect of his loan spell at Mornflake Stadium.

The 19-year-old midfielder set up the winner in his first victory in an Alex shirt, breaking through a tackle before sending Courtney Baker-Richardson clean through to slot home.

Now King, whose initial loan deal from Cardiff City runs until January, is hungry for more action.

He said: “I’m loving it, really, really loving it. I love playing the games and training, it’s a really good group of lads – I mean that. I’m enjoying myself and I can’t wait to just keep playing.

“We prepare for every individual game in a very specific way, and that really helps us on the pitch. We all feel prepared when we step onto the pitch.

“In the games I’ve played before, we’ve just lacked that last little bit to get that win. So it was great to get that done. I think we deserved it.

“We showed we can do that, even when we were tired and had to defend for our lives near the end. We stuck together.

“Four points from the last two games is positive, a draw away and a win at home, we can’t complain about that. We have to just keep ticking along.”

King will miss this weekend’s visit of Mansfield Town because he will travel to Austria today (Wednesday) with Wales Under-21s for a friendly on Saturday.

He added: “Missing the Mansfield game is disappointing, but I’m looking forward to going away with my country too.

“I love representing my country, from Under-15s all the way up to U21s now, and it’s important for us because it is preparation for our next Euros campaign.”

Other Crewe players on international duty over the next few days, and unavailable for the Mansfield game, are: Zac Williams (Wales U21s), Matus Holicek (Slovakia U18s), Max Woodcock (Scotland U18s).