Danny Cowley believes Miguel Azeez is a top player, and he’ll learn from what was a tricky debut in English league football.

Though Miguel Azeez has technically made his debut for the Arsenal first team, it was in the latter stages of a Europa League group stage match. He’s only made one Premier League squad, and he didn’t get off the bench that day.

That was obviously a big contributing factor to Azeez’s decision to go out on loan this season. He should now get the chance to play regular football against senior opposition with Portsmouth in League One.

After a bit of a wait, Azeez got his debut from the start against Cambridge United on Saturday. It didn’t all go to plan, as Portsmouth lost 2-1, and the Arsenal loanee came off after 59 minutes.

Danny Cowley explained the midfielder’s role in the team, and why he’s not worried that things didn’t click immediately.

“We played 4-3-3 [on Saturday] so we played with a (number) six and two (number) eights,” Cowley explained in Monday’s edition of The News. “Miguel is such a young player who is finding his way in professional football.

“It was a tough start but this is the life of a professional footballer – it’s not always easy. But he’s a top player and he will learn a lot from today.”

The league fixtures always come thick and fast in the lower divisions, and Portsmouth will be back in action against Plymouth Argyle on Tuesday at 19:45 BST.

Given he didn’t complete the full 90 minutes at the weekend, Azeez may well now be ready for another start in midweek.