Aaron Hughes has hailed his cup sidekick as one of the best young centre-backs in the country.

The vastly experienced Northern Ireland international reckons composure and decision-making are what make Lewis Dunk something special.

Hughes has been kept out of Albion’s side in the Championship by his 22-year-old club mate.

But they teamed up for the second successive Capital One Cup tie at Tottenham on Wednesday.

As at Burton in the previous round, both men emerged with high marks – but not a clean sheet this time.

It was enough to underline what Hughes already thought. Dunk is off to a flyer this season.

He said: “Dunky has had probably one of the best starts to a season I’ve seen any centre half have in any of the leagues.

“His composure on the ball marks him out. He makes good decisions.

“He knows when to win it.

“He’s strong, especially when the ball is bobbling around and some centre-halves just put their foot through it.

“He has got the composure to get it down and pick a pass.

“I’d say he is one of the top young centre-halves in the country and I’m talking about all the leagues when I say that.”

Hughes has been undisputed first choice for his table-topping national team this season.

But he has had to wait for his chance for his club since losing his place ten days into the season.

That made the opportunity to take on Spurs all the more welcome.

More openings could follow with Dunk and Gordon Greer both close to suspensions. He said: “I quite enjoyed the match. It’s great to come in at a stadium like that and play against top players.

“We now have to produce hard work and more of what we saw at Tottenham.

“There are areas we know we can improve on and we work hard to try and improve those things.

“But we know that when we are on it and everybody is concentrated we can compete with anyone.

“It is just a matter of working hard and it’s still a long season.

“There are still a lot of games to go.

“Nothing is decided yet.”