A great week for Paddy Lane of Fleetwood Town but midfielder puts team first

In between helping the Highbury club to their first back-to-back league wins of the season, the 20-year-old midfielder signed a contract extension tying him to Town for at least the next two seasons.

Lane claimed assists for both goals in Saturday’s 2-1 home win over Gillingham, which followed the 3-0 success against Bolton Wanderers and lifted the club out of the League One relegation zone.

The Northern Ireland Under-21 international said of those two wins in five days: “It’s massive. We could feel the Bolton win coming but Crains (interim head coach Stephen Crainey) said we needed to back it up. It was a grind but we did it and it’s a huge result.

“That (escaping the bottom four) was our aim. We needed to start looking up instead of down because ultimately this club should be looking up, especially with the fans being here and how good they were all game. They deserved that, so we just need to keep going and working like we are in training and we’ll get results like that.”

Lane may have had to settle for one goal since his summer move from Hyde United but the wideman is becoming Town’s assists ace after setting up the free-scoring Harrison Biggins and Tom Clarke for Saturday’s crucial strikes.

He added: “I’ve always said my game is about creating chances and scoring goals if I can. I’d like to chip in with a few more goals but I like creating chances.

“But it wasn’t just about the goals this week – it was about the grit and determination at the back to defend.

“We let them get one back, which we were disappointed with because we wanted a clean sheet, but we dug in. The last 10 minutes was a grind but we got the result.”

Having taken the climb of four levels out of non-league football in his stride, Lane is delighted with his new deal.

He said: “I was buzzing. When the club said, ‘Look, we’re looking at giving you a new contract’, I was absolutely over the moon.

“It’s what I’ve been working towards personally but the main thing is the team.

“We are getting the three points now and it’s the first time we’ve had back-to-back wins. It’s what fans deserve, what we deserve and what everyone deserves at the club.”

But Lane is looking no further into the future than Fleetwood’s next two games against the clubs immediately below them in the table, starting at Morecambe on Saturday.

“They are all massive games in this league, and the more games we get results from the next game becomes bigger and bigger,” he said. “That’s why we work as hard as we do on the training ground every day.”

Fleetwood Town Wrens lost 3-1 at Tranmere Rovers.

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