Manchester United's Paddy McNair has the ability to be a goal-scoring finisher, according to the club's under-21 team manager Warren Joyce.
McNair has expressed his desire to play further forward up the pitch for United's first team and he helped his cause with his display against Middlesbrough's under-21s on Monday night.
The Northern Irishman was picked as a holding midfielder in that match and scored the decisive goal in a 1-0 win, arriving late in the box and sweeping the ball in.
The 20-year-old played as a holding midfielder twice for Northern Ireland during the international break.
United's first team have struggled with their holding midfield combinations in a 4-2-3-1 formation this season.
Discussing the goal for McNair on Monday night, Joyce told MUTV: "He's done it before. He's a good footballer. He came to the club as a No 10. We know that he's got good feet. We know that he's got good technical ability.
"He went through a massive growth spurt when he was under 18 and came out of it and ended up playing in more backward positions, but he's done that before for us. Against Reading, a couple of years ago, he got the goal to get us in the playoff finals with a last-ditch winner. There's a good finisher in there and he's come up trumps again."
