The family of a soldier fatally injured by an improvised bomb in Afghanistan have paid tribute to him ahead of his funeral.

Sapper Connor Ray, 20, of 33 Engineer Regiment (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) will be given full military honours at his funeral at St Woolas Cathedral in Newport, south Wales, today.

He was fatally injured during a search and clearance operation in the Nad-e Ali district of central Helmand near Checkpoint Kahmanan on April 11.

Sapper Ray was part of a mission to clear a compound previously used by insurgents, allowing local people to safely return to the area, when he was seriously injured in an IED blast.

He was taken to Camp Bastion Role 3 Hospital and later transferred to Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham, where he died on April 18.

“Connor was such a kind-hearted, good-natured and amusing guy with a curious taste for ’80s power ballads,” his family said in a moving tribute.

“He described himself as a warrior even though he was scared of spiders.

“Always in good spirits and often mischievous, he had a cheeky grin and infectious giggle.