Birmingham City manager John Eustace admits he'd like to keep hold of on-loan Arsenal defender Auston Trusty.

Trusty has made 35 appearances for Blues this campaign, scoring four goals and assisting twice, and set up a goal against Rotherham on Saturday afternoon with Eustace's side winning 2-0. The defender helped ease an injury crisis at the club by reporting back to training just days after sustaining a calf injury.

This has led to Eustace lauding the 24-year-old after beating Rotherham, he said: “That really did show his commitment as a loan player, one hundred per cent," Eustace said. “What a fantastic pro, a fantastic player, he has been a great servant for us this season.

“As I said last week on the Friday he turned up and said 'I am ready to play'. A fantastic attitude and his performance was brilliant as well. We are very fortunate to have good professionals here at the football club and Auston is certainly one of the them.

“He is very robust, he is an athlete, very fit, a top professional, he has come over from the States and he is just living football. He has got no distractions. He goes home, watches football, comes back, plays football, eats the right stuff. He is a true professional and I think him coming back in the team last week – what a difference it made.

“I would love to keep him. I am sure there is a chance, definitely – but it's out of my control. All I can say is I would love to keep him at the football club and I think all the fans would love to see him stay at the football club as well. When we want to build those are the kind of characters we want here so he would be top of my list."