Huddersfield Town boss Danny Cowley has lauded on-loan Arsenal star Emile Smith-Rowe as 'Premier League' quality after Bristol City failed to deal with the youngster.
It was a sorry night for the Robins at the John Smith's Stadium, with Lee Johnson's men struggling in a particularly abject first half.
Goals from Chris Willock and Karlan Grant were enough to secure all three points despite a late consolation goal from Famara Diedhiou. But it was the performance of Emile Smith-Rowe which caught the eye of the Terriers boss.
The attacking midfielder joined Huddersfield in January on a deal until the end of the season and created several chances against the Robins on Tuesday night.
Speaking in his post-match press conference, Cowley said: Emile Smith Rowe is just a really lovely player, isn't he?
"It's not easy being a manager because at the moment he's not ready to play the three-game week, so we had to be really cautious on Saturday [against Swansea].
"He looked a top player, didn't he?
"He has that ability to find space; he could find space in a telephone box; he speeds the play up for you and draws and commits and I think it would have been a brilliant performance if he had scored.
"I am always going to be demanding of him because, to me, he is a Premier League player so I have to treat him like that and demand Premier League standards from him - in training and in games, day in and day out.
"It was a really good performance."
The former RB Leipzig loanee registered an assist for the first Willock goal and was brought down by Nathan Baker in the box in the second half, winning the penalty which Karlan Grant tucked away.
He also had four shots, made three successful dribbles and had a pass completion of 85 per cent as he ran the show in Yorkshire.
Huddersfield were briefly linked with Bristol City midfielder Sammie Szmodics in January, but instead opted for a move for Smith-Rowe leaving Szmodics to move to Peterborough for the rest of the season.
