Ainsley Maitland-Niles revealed that he’s full of confidence after coming off the pitch following Arsenal’s 2-0 win against Reading in the EFL Cup.

The midfielder played alongside Mohamed Elneny, admitting that he was nervous at first but as his confidence grew, he warmed into the game.

The 19-year-old even had a few shots, which he fully acknowledges weren’t always on target, but it was great to see him having a good time and enjoying his football.

In fact, the England youth international is thirsty for more, revealing that he’s aiming for more first team football.

“Everyone wants to score, so I tried a few times in the first half,” he said.

“I wasn’t too far off with some of them, some of them were a bit wayward. I’m just full of confidence right now an I’m trying to push on to cement a first team place.”

This was Maitland-Niles’ second first team start this season; the first was against Nottingham Forest in the previous round of the EFL Cup. His performance was decent and there’s no reason to suggest that he won’t see more first team action in the not-too-distant future.

What’s also brilliant to see is how much he enjoyed himself.

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