Fleetwood Town boss backs League One hotshot to shine on the international stage after Northern Ireland call-up

A Northern Ireland U21 international, Lane has progressed into the senior setup for the first time, with Ian Baraclough selecting him for the camp that will face Luxembourg and Hungary in friendlies.

His Fleetwood boss, Crainey, was the man who helped bring Lane into the club and took his first training session – immediately pointing out his talent.

Lane was nominated for the player of the month award in League One in January and has been a star turn since breaking into the Cod Army team this season.

Crainey was full of praise for the 21-year-old and his attitude since coming into Highbury.

He said: “I'm delighted for Paddy, I was the under 23s coach when he came into the building and Paddy has earned it, not me - it's not my coaching, trust me!

"In terms of his quality, I've seen it from day one in his first training session, I came back into the building and said 'we need to sign this lad, he's got something that I really like' and that has proved to be the case.

"It's all down to Paddy's hard work and other coaches tipping in as well, not just me, the first team coaches as well.

"It's been a collective effort but it's mostly been down to Paddy, his hard work, dedication and natural ability.

"He fully deserves it and I'm sure he can handle that level of football as well.”