Newcastle United manager Steve Bruce has praised on-loan Arsenal midfielder Joe Willock for his versatility.
Willock joined Newcastle on a six-month loan deal in the January transfer window and was immediately ushered into the starting XI by Bruce.
The 21-year-old midfielder, who impressed under Unai Emery in the Arsenal first-team set-up but struggled for game time this season under Mikel Arteta, has started the last five games for Newcastle, playing the full 90 minutes in four of them.
Willock has played in different midfield positions for Bruce, including sitting a little deeper or pushing into an attacking role, as seen against West Brom last weekend.
Bruce recognises that the youngster's energy and goal threat makes playing him higher up the pitch tempting.
"He has played further forward before but I'm also wary of the impact he's had in midfield so there's a decision to be made," the Newcastle boss told reporters on Thursday, via Chronicle Live.
"I've been very pleased with him. He has given us something different and has the energy in midfield and he can score a goal."
Willock will hope to continue impressing at Newcastle ahead of a return to Arsenal in the summer.
Whether he can do enough to prove that he deserves a role in the Gunners' first team remains to be seen.
Willock was impressive in the Europa League group stages for Arsenal, but as the importance of the matches grew it was unlikely that he was going to feature.
During his strong run in the competition, however, Arteta expressed the need for Willock to simply continue doing what he has been doing to break into the Gunners first team.
"I really like their approach they (youngsters) are having, to make the difference, not just to play and be there," he told reporters in November.
"They want to make a difference for the team. They’re playing with a lot of personality. Keep doing what he’s (Willock) doing consistently and his chance will arrive."
