NEWPORT County goalkeeper Tom King is hoping his international call-up can help lay the foundations for a long and successful career in football.

Plymouth-born King, 24, was added to the Wales squad on Thursday ahead of crucial Euro 2020 qualifiers against Azerbaijan next Saturday and Hungary the following Tuesday.

The Exiles gloveman will be between the sticks for his club today in their FA Cup first-round tie at Grimsby Town (kick-off 3pm), before linking up with Ryan Giggs’ men.

King, whose mother Sally is from Cardiff, is busy trying to learn the national anthem for the trip to Baku – and he has Welsh-speaking grandmother Delphine to help him.

“It’s a great honour,” he said. “My family are as delighted as I am, and my team-mates have all been putting an arm around me – it’s a good feeling.

“Hopefully this is going to be the building block for a long and illustrious career.

“This is what you dream of as a kid. International recognition is something every kid grows up wanting, and you’ve got to grab it by the scruff of the neck and take your chances when they come.

“This isn’t just my achievement, I feel like this is all of our achievement (at County), and it has been a whirlwind 24 hours.”

He added: “I had a call from the Wales manager and didn’t really know how to react.

“I was a bit nervous at first, but I spoke to the gaffer here and he reassured me it will all be alright.

“He gave me a big pat on the back and said well done, and he convinced me that this is just the start and we’re going to build from here and see where it takes us.

Explaining what happened after he finished speaking to Giggs, he said: “Mum got the first call and then my nan got the second.

“My nan actually speaks fluent Welsh so she recited the national anthem to me three or four times, so that was quite a special moment. There were a few tears on their behalf.

“I don’t know the anthem but I was looking at it and what I’m trying to look for is some pronunciations of the Welsh words.

“I’ll give it my best go but if you see me with my head down, you’ll know why – give me two months and I’ll have it nailed down.”

As for today’s game, King is convinced that if County are at their best then they will be in the hat for the second round.

“I’ve played a lot at Grimsby and it’s a ground I know well,” he said.

“We’ve got to go there and be the best that we can be, and I’ve got no doubt that if we are the best we can be then we can win and look forward to the next round.”

And although he hasn’t had the best of results in the cup, King did play his part in a special occasion a few years ago while with Millwall.

The Lions lost 6-0 to Spurs in the last FA Cup tie at the Premier League club’s old White Hart Lane ground, but it was an experience he says he’ll never forget.