Arsenal youngster Emile Smith Rowe is destined to be "a top player" according to Huddersfield Town boss Danny Cowley, who has been impressed with the teenager's loan spell so far.
Smith Rowe turned in a match-winning performance in Huddersfield's 2-1 victory over Championship promotion chasers Bristol City on Tuesday.
The 19-year-old midfielder created the opening goal for his old Arsenal teammate Chris Willock, then won the penalty from which Karlan Grant fired the Terriers' second.
Smith Rowe, who has been on loan at Huddersfield since January, ripped the Robins to ribbons with his running.
And Cowley said the only problem was managing the teenager's game time so he doesn't pick up an injury like he did while on loan at RB Leipzig last season.
"Emile Smith Rowe is just a really lovely player, isn't he?" said Cowley in quotes reported by Examiner Live .
"It's not easy being a manager because at the moment he's not ready to play the three-game week, so we had to be really cautious on Saturday [against Swansea].
"That wasn't nice because you want him to play because even as a manager you enjoy watching performances like that, and you know you're going to get criticised a lot when you don't play him – because the supporters are going to be frustrated – so we have to manage him at the moment.
"He obviously had a loan at Leipzig last year and picked up an injury and maybe there was a consideration that they didn't quite manage his minutes and his load and the periodisation of his training.
"So we're being very careful and cautious and protective because we know if we can get him on the pitch more often than not he's going to be a very good player for us."
Cowley joked that Smith Rowe could "find space in a telephone box", saying: "He looked a top player, didn't he?
"He has that ability to find space – he could find space in a telephone box.
"He speeds the play up for you and draws and commits and I think it would have been a brilliant performance if he had scored.
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