Crewe Alexandra's on-loan defender Alfie Pond says he is relishing his first-team chance.
Recent loan signing Alfie Pond said he was "really pleased" to make a winning debut for Crewe Alexandra after admitting feeling "stuck" in youth football at parent club Wolverhampton Wanderers.
The 21-year-old joined the Alex on 3 January on a deal until the end of the season and played his first Crewe game in Saturday's 3-1 win over Barrow in League Two.
It was Pond's first senior appearance since last March, when he came on as a late substitute in Wolves' defeat by Bournemouth in the FA Cup.
"I know I'm ready," he told BBC Radio Stoke.
"I've had a really frustrating two years at Wolves. No disrespect to Under-21s football but I've been stuck there, so to get out [against Barrow], I was really pleased with myself and know I can do it."
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Pond, who had a four-month loan in League Two with Stockport County two seasons ago, is one of several loan players getting first-team experience with Crewe, along with Burnley's Sam Waller, Aston Villa's Tommi O'Reilly and Stoke striker Emre Tezgel.
Pond says his fellow loanees have been "really good" at helping him settle in and he is quickly getting reacquainted with the cut and thrust of the EFL.
"It's really transitional. It's very back to front, competing and winning your headers and picking second balls up," he said.
"You've got to really value those things if you want to win the game."
The win kept Lee Bell's side firmly in the hunt for a play-off spot, with the Alex in 10th place, three points off the top seven with 20 games to play.
"The gaffer said we need wins like that if we're going to get to where we want to be," Pond said.
"The play-offs is where we want to end up, so that's three points towards that."
Category: General Sports
