Arsene Wenger has praised Isaac Hayden’s intelligence after including him in the Arsenal squad for the Capital One Cup tie against Chelsea.

The 18-year-old made his debut in the third-round clash against West Brom last month - and is part of the matchday squad for Tuesday’s game.

"He is maybe not a creative player but everything he does is intelligent"

Wenger is pleased with the teenager’s progress and believes he has many of the qualities needed to succeed at the highest level.

“I like his strengths in the duels,” the manager told Arsenal Player. “I like his capacity of concentration and I believe as well that technically he is very focused to do well.

“He is committed and at half-time [in West Brom game] I told him to behave well because he was on a yellow card and he did that well in the second half.

“He is maybe not a creative player but everything he does is intelligent. I like his intelligence and all these qualities together makes me choose him.”