Maitland-Niles wants to push on at Arsenal

He was singled out for praise by manager Arsene Wenger after making his first home start for Arsenal in Tuesday night’s 2-0 EFL Cup victory over Reading and now Ainsley Maitland-Niles plans to kick on.

The teenager, who played alongside Mohamed Elneny in the centre of Arsenal’s midfield, has been at the club since the age of nine and spent last season on loan at Ipswich Town in the Championship.

At just 17 years and 102 days, Maitland-Niles became Arsenal’s second-youngest Champions League player,behind Jack Wilshere, following his substitute appearance against Galatasaray in December 2014, and made his Premier League debut against Newcastle United four days later.

Maitland-Niles is well aware of the fierce competition that exists in Arsenal’s midfield at present but the utility man is determined to catch his manager’s eye and follow in the footsteps of Alex Iwobi and force his way into the first team picture.

“I was nervous at first, but I just got on with the game and tried to do what I do best,” he said.

“Everyone wants to score, so I tried a few times in the first half. I wasn’t too far off with some of them; some of them were a bit wayward.

(Photo by David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

“I’m just full of confidence right now and I’m trying to push on to cement a first team place.

“It just gives you a lot of confidence and you just need to take it into the games and keep speaking to him (Arsene Wenger) and seeing where you need to improve on. So that’s what I try to do.

“It was difficult [at Ipswich] but at the same time it gave me a lot of experience and showed me how different men’s football is from playing with a bunch of kids.

“But it’s like when you come back from those sorts of experiences, you learn a lot and you’ve just got to take it into the season ahead of you.”