Manchester United midfielder Matty Willock has been praised by his loan boss at Crawley.

Willocki impressed on his first start for the League Two outfit as they drew 1-1 with Macclesfield.

He was lively around the park and tested the goalkeeper in the first two minutes.

Reds boss Gabriele Cioffi revealed how keen he was to bring in Willock last month.

Cioffi told The Argus: “I wanted Willock. You are talking about a player who was my first choice when the January window opened.

“Selim (Gaygusuz, director of football) brought me two or three names and I picked him.

“I was sure and then we were able to sign him two days before the end of the window.

“He brings physicality, tackles, finishing and I’m happy. We add value and competition to our sqad.”

Fans were disappointed to see Willock leave the action after 72 minutes but Cioffi said: “I took him off because he asked me to.

“He suddenly said to me ‘I’m near to having cramp’.

“We can’t afford to have a player at 90% on the pitch.”

Willock, 22, was twice on the United bench in the Premier League under Jose Mourinho but runs out of contract this summer.

He has worked with Ashley Young, whose brother Lewis scored for Crawley yesterday.

The wingbacks's deflected short on 84 minutes cancelled out Harry Smith's 40th-minute header.

Lewis Young said: “Matty was at Arsenal as a kid with my younger brother (Kyle) so he has played or trained with all three pf us now.

“He was brilliant. He showed his quality and, if he can keep doing that for the next 11 games, we have a fantastic player on our hands.”