Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta insists he is seeing a "different player" in Ainsley Maitland-Niles this season.

The Gunners academy graduate has been deputising in midfield after injuries to Granit Xhaka and Thomas Partey.

Maitland-Niles was excellent in the win over Watford on Sunday and Arteta was quick to praise him when speaking after the game.

"First of all, I see a different player in terms of his urgency, his commitment, the clarity in his play, his purpose," Arteta said.

"Since we made the decision, it was clear what I was seeing that I wanted him to stay, because he was going to be useful.

"He has a huge talent because he's versatile enough to adapt to almost any position on the pitch. Today we made use of him to do what he had to do in the game, which was really important."