Garnacho has started our previous four league fixtures on the substitutes' bench, but showed his quality in his brief cameo against Arsenal on Sunday. One teasing late cross from the 21-year-old almost came very close to earning us a deserved point at the Emirates.

Despite not selecting Garnacho from the off in recent games, Rosenior has been impressed with what he has seen from the Argentina international.

‘Garna is a top player,’ said Rosenior at his pre-match press conference. ‘I’ve changed a little bit tactically since I've come in; I've wanted to dominate midfield areas. That has meant at times I've only played with one winger, but Garna is an outstanding player.

‘What I've really liked in this period is his reaction to not starting. He's been training very well and showed real positivity when he came on against Arsenal [on Sunday].

'He was also magnificent against Hull in the FA Cup and had a huge impact in the game against Arsenal when he scored two goals [Carabao Cup semi-final first leg].'

Rosenior continued: ‘We have got to take into account that Garna is 21 – he's got huge ability and huge potential.

'For any young player, the biggest thing to be challenged is your consistency level, but he's showing really good signs, not just in training but in meetings, that he's on a really good track. He’s definitely going to get his opportunities to play with the schedule we've got coming up.’

Ahead of our trip to Aston Villa this evening, Rosenior expanded on the significance of players within his squad responding well in periods when they are not regularly starting games.

‘I want to find out about people's character not just when times are good, but when times are difficult as well,’ he said. ‘What I want is a consistent winning team, and to have a consistent winning team, you need consistent behaviours and habits regardless of what's happening to you individually.

‘So not just Garna, every player knows from the conversations I've had that how they operate day to day – not just in training but in meetings – affects my team selection. And Garna has put himself in a really, really good place the last few weeks and he's more than knocking on the door to start.’

Rosenior also highlighted that from his time working with the Argentina international, he has seen nothing but an excellent attitude and personality.

‘He's a great kid. He's had a very difficult thing happen in his life recently – and rather than tell me about that, he wanted to put himself forward for a game and only told me after the game when he had to go back home.

‘People make judgments based on the way people look. Garna is a really good character who works really hard every day in training. I know in the end his quality is going to show in a really consistent way.’