Ryan Giggs believes Joe Rodon will continue to impress for club and country once he gets regular minutes under his belt for Swansea City again.
The centre-back - who has previously been linked with a move to Giggs' former club Manchester United - missed a hefty chunk of the 2018/19 season due to a metatarsal fracture. He also suffered two separate ankle injuries in Steve Cooper's debut campaign at the Liberty Stadium.
The academy product made his long-awaited return to competitive action in Swansea's 2-0 Carabao Cup first round defeat to Newport County last weekend having not featured for the Swans since the 0-0 draw with West Brom in March.
And Giggs says £20m-rated Rodon's qualities will shine through once he's back up to speed for the Swans.
"I think Joe's got to start playing again. He's been out with injuries so it's just getting games and minutes under your belt, and the rest will come in my opinion, because I really do think he's a class act," said Giggs.
"I think he's shown in a short space of time the quality he possesses. Joe's just got to get minutes now, start playing regularly for Swansea and the rest will come."
Rodon's lack of game time ensured he missed out on Wales' Nations League double header with Finland and Bulgaria earlier this month.
With others including Chris Mepham and Ashley Williams unavailable, Rodon's Swansea team mate Ben Cabango was called up to a senior squad for the first time.
He was handed his international debut in the final stages of the 1-0 win against Finland in Helsinki, becoming the 18th player to make his Wales bow under Giggs in the process.
And Giggs - who watched Cabango in the Championship play-off semi-final second leg clash with Brentford at Griffin Park in July - admits he was hugely impressed with the central defender during what was the first international break of 2020.
"Joe was injured, and Ben probably stepped in to his shoes. I watched him a couple of times last year and he impressed me," added the Wales boss.
"With Meps [Chris Mepham] and Joe out, there were chances to get into the squad in those positions, and I had no hesitation in picking Ben.
"What you never know is what the player is actually like character wise until you meet them and work with them, and Ben was brilliant.
"I think with a lot of the young players, it's helped them that it's a young squad and a lot of them knew each other, so that made it more comfortable.
"Ben was really good and showed that he wasn't intimidated by stepping up to the first team squad, so he really impressed me."
Wales manager Ryan Giggs was relaunching McDonald’s Fun Football programme, which offers fun, free and safe football sessions for children age 5-11. To find your nearest Fun Football Centre and to sign up for a session, go to: www.mcdonalds.co.uk/football .
