Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger was pleased with Ainsley Maitland-Niles' performance for their 1-0 win over Newcastle United.

The youngster shone at left-back for the hosts on Saturday.

"I believe he is the future," said Wenger. "He can play left back, right back, central midfield. Of the three positions, maybe the least natural for him is left back, but he adapts very quickly and is a good defender.

"He has that sense of one against one, he is very strong, he is very quick, he has very quick recovery runs when he comes back. He has some aspects to learn: experience and he has to work on his heading. But overall, what he has done in the last three days is positive."

Wenger also gave a start to Jack Wilshere and was happy with a solid showing.

"It's positive. I believe that he has the basic stamina, he is like the rest of the team, he was a bit less sharp than on Wednesday night but overall what was very positive was that he didn't weaken at all and he had this presence and his dribbling going forward.

"He did a good defensive job as well and overall, I'd say it's positive that he can produce two games of that quality in four days. Let's not forget that Wednesday night to Saturday afternoon is two and a half days, so that's the most difficult."