Tottenham rising star Alfie Devine's crazy year has seen him train with Rice and Bellingham for England, run the gauntlet at Under-20 World Cup in Argentina... and help loan club Port Vale on their epic cup adventures!

Advent calendars are being opened and Christmas trees put up, but Port Vale find themselves in the pretty unique position of being a League One team still alive in all three cup competitions.

Andy Crosby's Valiants have proved themselves knockout kings this season and their December schedule offers their fans plenty of festive cheer.

On Tuesday this week, they head to Bolton Wanderers in the second round of the Bristol Street Motors Trophy.

Next week, it's Stevenage in an FA Cup second round replay after their 1-1 draw at the weekend - with a trip to non-league Maidstone United awaiting the victors.

But most excitingly, seven days after that, Vale host Middlesbrough in the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup. Progress and they're assured of meeting a Premier League side for a shot at Wembley.

For Alfie Devine, the 19-year-old midfielder on loan at Vale from Tottenham Hotspur, the cup excitement is just the continuation of a thrilling year.

The teenager played for England at the Under-20 World Cup in Argentina in May and was then invited to train alongside Gareth Southgate's senior players in September.

'I'm loving every bit of it at the moment,' Devine tells Mail Sport. 'Obviously there was the manager change with Ange Postecoglou coming in and he wanted to have a look at every player.

'I had a good chat with him at the start of pre-season and the decision was made between everyone that it was probably best for me to go out on loan this season. It was the right time to go out.

'All the boys and all the staff at Vale have made me feel very welcome and I've really settled into the group. The staff at Tottenham are checking in all the time. I've had good feedback.'

When Devine scored Vale's winning goal to overcome League Two Mansfield Town in the Carabao Cup fourth round, it sparked a flurry of social media excitement among Spurs fans.

Given the injury crisis Postecoglou is grappling with at present, they may wish they'd kept hold of him.

But Devine's focus is purely on Vale's cup adventures for now.

'Obviously going into every season, teams in the Championship, League One and League Two want to do well in the cups because you get rewarded the later you get through the rounds,' he said.

'In the Carabao Cup, we have just kept winning and winning and winning, then we've found ourselves in the quarters.

'It's a massive game and it gives us that opportunity afterwards to get that Premier League side we've always wanted.

'But you can't forget that Middlesbrough are a very good side, they got to the play-offs last year, so nobody is looking past that.

'All the boys are buzzing for it, especially when we got a home draw which made our chances even better to be in front of our own fans. We need everyone there to get us over the line.'

Devine played in the EFL Trophy for Tottenham's under-21 team and certainly sees the value in the competition.

'It does give you experience of going to a Football League ground and playing against men. The experience you gain from that is massive,' he said.

'Everyone's path will be different but the majority do go out on loan and if you get a decent amount of games in that competition, it does set you up quite well.'

Likewise when the England under-20 international found himself drafted in to make up the numbers for Southgate during a September training camp in September.

Chelsea pair Lewis Hall and Bashir Humphreys, who is on loan at Championship club Swansea, knew in advance they would be stepping up. Devine did not.

'It was halfway through the warm-ups and Joe Edwards - who was England under-20 boss and is now at Millwall - just came up to me and said they need an extra player for the first half of the training and you're going over,' Devine explains.

'Obviously it was nerve-wracking when you first go over. You watch England and you watch Jude Bellingham and Declan Rice, all these sort of players you look up to as a midfielder, and now you're training with them.

'I felt a bit more comfortable there with Harry Kane and James Maddison. I spent pre-season with Maddison and I know Harry from Tottenham.

'That made it easier but at that age when you go and do that it's just about enjoying it to be honest and I loved every minute of it.'

Another formative experience came back in May when Devine represented England at the Under-20 World Cup in Argentina, scoring in games against Uruguay and Italy. It threw up some unexpected challenges.

Devine had been part of the England Under-19 side crowned European champions the year before. 

'They are mad over football, really passionate about it and that's the way football should be,' he said. 'But it was a shock.

'The first game against Tunisia, there was a decent crowd there but it's just England vs Tunisia so you don't really expect in Argentina many people to come.

'But our national anthem was still getting booed by everyone and we're getting booed on the ball and you're thinking "this is a bit different".

'When we played Uruguay, it was one of their days off in Uruguay, and it was absolutely packed with 20-odd thousand [27,231 in La Plata]. There were 30 of our family in their section then the rest of the stadium's against us.

'It was nerve-wracking at first but then you buzz off it and it gives you that extra bit, which was good.

'The game we played Italy, it was another packed stadium and I've never seen a crowd so in favour of Italy before, that isn't in Italy.'

For a group of lads born in 2003 and 2004, a crash course on the 1982 Falklands War and Diego Maradona's 1986 'Hand of God' was required.

'After the Uruguay game, we had a day off and there were questions asked - "why are they like this against England?" We had it explained and it made a bit more sense,' Devine said.

'The boys handled it well. When you're actually in the game, you don't really pick up and notice it.

'The national anthems and at half-time and full-time when you have to run inside because things are being chucked at you - that is a bit crazy!'

Sport runs in Devine's blood. His father Sean played rugby league for St Helens and Oldham in then 1980s and 1990s, and while Alfie does love watching the sport, following in his footsteps was never an option.

Instead it was visits to Anfield to watch Liverpool as a youngster that made more of an impression and it's perhaps little wonder he became a midfielder.

'When I was growing up, my idol was Steven Gerrard because I used to go to pretty much every Liverpool game with my grandad, mum and dad, or sister,' he said. 'I was at Liverpool's academy too when I was younger.

'Once you get older and you start understanding the game a bit more, I loved watching Luka Modric playing for Real Madrid.

'Even now, whatever age he is [38], he's still one of the best in the world.'

Both Gerrard and Modric were pretty handy in the pressure cooker of knockout competition. Rather like Port Vale.