Sion Spence has enjoyed a good few days, with a call-up to the Wales under-21 squad following his stoppage-time winner for Bristol Rovers on Saturday.
The attacking midfielder has been named in a 22-man squad for the 2023 under-21 European Championship qualifiers in Moldova and the Netherlands on October 8 and October 12 respectively.
The 21-year-old made an instant impact as a substitute at Walsall on Saturday, finding himself in the right place at the right time to snatch the winner, which ended a 10-month run without a win on the road for the Gas.
Spence has found playing time hard to come by since joining Rovers on loan from Crystal Palace in the summer, but his late heroics will have done his standing in the eyes of manager Joey Barton the world of good.
However, he will now be unavailable for two Rovers games as a result of his call-up, missing the League Two clash with Carlisle United and the visit of Chelsea under-21s to the Mem in the EFL Trophy.
Wales sit second in Group E with four points from two games, and Paul Bodin – father of former Rovers hero Billy – will hope his side can close the gap to Switzerland at the top of the group.
Spence has five caps for the under-21s, the last of which came in the 0-0 draw with Moldova in April, when he was sent off after accruing two bookings.
He also represented Wales at under-19 level, scoring three goals in 10 caps.
Elsewhere in the Rovers squad, Anssi Jaakkola will likely miss international duty with Finland next month due to a long-running Achilles injury, but fellow goalkeeper Jed Ward could have an outside chance of making the England under-19 squad when it is announced on Friday.
He took part in a 28-man training camp in May and will be eager to earn a full call-up.
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