Manchester United centre-back Ayden Heaven has spoken about the backing from manager Ruben Amorim following the 4-1 Premier League win over Wolverhampton Wanderers on the road yesterday.
The 19-year-old started the 1-1 draw against West Ham United last week. He had a nervous outing with a yellow card in the opening half. Leny Yoro replaced him at the half-time interval.
Despite this, the Arsenal graduate started in the middle of the back three versus Wolves.
Barring one moment of miscommunication with goalkeeper Senne Lammens, Heaven was phenomenal in his 69-minute appearance. He completed 100 percent of his passes and won 100 percent of his duels.
The youngster also made five clearances alongside three recoveries. Speaking after the comfortable win, Amorim heaped praise on the centre-back, saying he was ‘very good‘ on the night.
Heaven has now said that Amorim is showing a lot of trust in him after picking him to start in back-to-back league matches.
He said (via BBC Sport): “There’s so many great defenders at this club that he’s trusting you to be at the middle of that defence.
“He’s trusting me a lot. I feel like I’m working hard every day in training and I’m showing he can trust me in the games that I’m playing.
“I thought I was a good player but I knew that I first had to gain the trust of the manager and slowly I know I’m doing that.
“I feel like I’m doing well at the moment, but I’ve just got to keep working.”
Just a week ago, Heaven was among the players considered to leave on loan in January.
He has had a fine turnaround with back-to-back starts in the league ahead of Leny Yoro.
Amorim obviously believes Heaven is better suited in the middle of the back three and praised his ball-playing ability yesterday.
With Matthijs de Ligt and Harry Maguire still on the sidelines, Heaven could get an extended run in the starting line-up this month.
Heaven had a comfortable game at Wolves, but will face sterner challenges against Bournemouth, Aston Villa and Newcastle United.
If he were to stand out against such opposition, Heaven would present Amorim with a good selection headache when De Ligt or Maguire returns.
Stats from Transfermarkt.com & Sofascore.com