Arsenal youngster Ainsley Maitland-Niles has praised Arsene Wenger for helping him during his breakthrough season at the club. 

Maitland-Niles, 20, has made 10 Premier League appearances this season for the Gunners, and has impressed with his mature and versatile performances – he played many of those games out of position at left-wing back.

He has also featured in the Europa League nine times, and made his England U21 debut in October after forming part of the U20 World Cup-winning squad last summer

And the Englishman says it is Arsene Wenger who has to thank most for his terrific breakthrough campaign.

“I owe him a lot for believing in me and telling me I need to work on stuff before he has put me out there,” Maitland-Niles told Sky Sports News ahead of Arsenal hosting Stoke on Nissan Super Sunday.

“I come in every day and try and work as hard as I can on the things I know I need to work hard on and the things that other people pull me up about to be the best that I can.

“Me personally, he’s a very trusting person. He has a lot of belief in his players and whenever you want to talk to him about something his door’s always open – you can always walk in.

“Especially on the training pitch, he does put his arm around you when he thinks, ‘Look, I need to get into this player and tell him in a nice way how he needs to improve on this and that’, and it gives you a lot of confidence that the boss believes in you.

“You could talk to him about anything. He’s such a loving guy, he treats every player as family.”