Aston Villa boss Dean Smith is convinced by the quality of on-loan Manchester United defender Axel Tuanzebe.

The 21-year-old, who has not played for Smith since before Christmas because of a foot injury, has been a revelation at Villa Park this season.

Smith said: “If Ole (Gunnar Solskjaer) wants to ring me, I'll give him an excellent report on Axel.

“He came here as a right-back. But I always felt he had the capabilities to be a really good centre-half. He is proving that. He has really grown here. He is showing an awful lot of composure. His awareness has also got better, perhaps with experience of playing.

“He is quick, no question about that. But his understanding of the game has improved, so he doesn't need to rely on his pace as much. He can bring the ball out. He can pass. He can see the feet of our forwards, and hit them accurately.

“His injury has come at a bad time for us. We have certainly missed his composure.

“I think the reason why United wanted him to come here is because he would be playing in front of 30,000-plus crowds pretty much every week at Villa Park. Manchester United play in front of double that amount of people, but Villa Park is still a daunting prospect for players — you need to have the right character to be able to do it like Axel.

“Not everyone can."