Rob Holding was quietly impressive in the FA Cup semi-final last weekend, and the 2-1 win over Boro the previous week which saw the Gunners shift to a back three for the first time.

Although he didn’t play in midweek against Leicester, the 21 year has caught the eye of his manager who reiterated his confidence in him as a player, but also spoke about his ability to learn from the games he’s playing.

We were in a situation where we decided to play him, you must have confidence in him,” he said.

“I believe he has a great future because he’s very intelligent and has a very objective analysis of his own performance.

“The biggest part in the improvement of a player is to be capable of analysing his performance in a very objective way, a little bit harsh, and I think he has that in him.

“He’s very bright about what’s happening and he analyses very well and understands very well. He reads the game very well.”

It remains to be seen if Holding will be involved on Sunday at White Hart Lane. The Gunners are sweating over a knee injury to Laurent Koscielny, but even if the captain misses out, Arsene Wenger says he can still play three at the back.