Gillingham defender Simon King has admitted it was an easy decision to agree to extend his loan to Plymouth Argyle for a second month.

His initial spell with the bottom-of-the-table Pilgrims had been set to end after the away game against Crawley Town tomorrow.

But King will now stay at Argyle until at least the clash against Morecambe at Home Park on Saturday, November 5.

The 28-year-old has made four appearances for the Pilgrims, after making his debut in the 2-1 defeat at Burton Albion on September 3.

It has been a welcome return to regular first team football for the centre-back, who has missed much of the last couple of seasons for Gillingham because of an ankle injury.

The Gills have continued to pay his wages while King has been at cash-starved Argyle, whose long wait for their first win of the season ended when they won 2-0 against Macclesfield Town at Home Park last Saturday.

Former Pilgrims’ boss Peter Reid brought King to Home Park in the first place, and one of the first acts of caretaker manager Carl Fletcher was to ask King to extend his stay.

King admitted his loan spell had already been a benefit for him, and in more than simple playing terms.

He believes it has also developed him as a leader on the pitch.

King told Herald Sport: “It didn’t take me any time at all to agree to stay on loan for another month.

“It has been great here. Results haven’t been going our way but, hopefully, we have turned the corner now.

“It’s just nice playing first team football, I enjoy working with Fletch and Ro (acting first team coach Romain Larrieu) and there are a good bunch of lads.

“I think it’s helping me as well. It’s quite a young squad so it’s bringing me out of my shell a bit more.

“I have never been the loudest or communicated that well previously, but being one of the senior pros it means I have to.

“It’s a nice part of England as well,” added King. “I’m enjoying it. It’s a fresh start for me and I’m just hoping to be part of a winning team now and we can get shooting up that league.

“A few of the boys are in the same hotel as me and we tend to have a little look around in the afternoons.

“We have been to the Barbican and places like that. It’s great.”

King, like everyone else at Home Park, was very relieved when Argyle beat Macclesfield, to end a sequence of eight successive League Two defeats.

He said: “It was a massive boost. It was great to get the first win, and get that monkey off our back.

“I thought we were very good in the first half. We were well disciplined and organised.

“We were a little bit edgy in the second half, which is to be expected when you haven’t won for a little while.

“We did a lot of defensive work in training last week – just knowing our jobs really and taking responsibility.

“I think we all did that last Saturday and look what happened. We got a convincing 2-0 win.”

Crawley are in fourth position in the League Two table, only one point behind leaders Morecambe, following their 1-0 away win against Aldershot Town last Saturday.

King said: “It’s going to be a tough game. We know what Crawley are all about.

“They have just come up from the Conference and have had the momentum of getting promoted last season.

“But we have got to try to build on our performance against Macclesfield. We have got that bit of belief in the camp now.

“We have got to take that confidence into the game tomorrow, and I can’t see why we can’t go there and get a result,” he added.