Steven Alzate has been praised for his willingness to learn quickly after adapting to another new role.

The Colombia international started as right-back in a four in the 2-1 win at Arsenal.

The attacking midfielder has played as wing-back before, on both sides.

He went on fairly late as a right-back at Liverpool but that was in a team who were on top and chasing the game.

But starting in a four, with the organisation, disciplines and communication involved, was something new.

That was the role handed him by Graham Potter at Arsenal on his first club start since the defeat at Manchester United three games previously.

Alzate’s ease on the ball and footballing intelligence are not in question.

Asked whether the staff had needed to work with him on being part of a four-man defensive unit, head coach Potter said: “A bit but it’s all credit to the player, to be honest.

“He takes everything in his stride, so relaxed and calm.

“There was one action in the second half where he recovers to deal with Aubameyang and that is really high level defensive work.

“Of course, he’s not perfect from a positional perspective but no player is, really.

“But it’s his attitude, his open-mindedness, his humility to learn and to try his best.

“That’s what I like about him, he can help us a lot.”

Alzate has come a long way very quickly.

He was at the Amex on Tuesday watching the under-21s play Newport County in the Leasings.com Trophy, a competition in which he has appeared this season.

Potter was asked whether he was the sort of player he needed to get in his team wherever a gap appeared.

The Seagulls boss replied: “He had a big week in terms of going away with Colombia in the international break and came back and he has played a lot of football and this time last year, I think, he was at Swindon Town.

“Then it’s just a step – it’s huge so we have a responsibility to him as well to manage that properly.

“So that was the reason why he just had a little bit of a breather.

“But he’s that type of player that you just want him on the pitch.

“That said, sometimes there has to be a real reason to put him there.

“I just felt that maybe to attack behind Ozil, he could help us in that position.”

Alzate came into the side at the expense of Martin Montoya, the man he replaced for the final stages at Anfield.

Where he operates against Wolves remains to be seen.

The eleven who started at Arsenal all stated a strong case to retain their places.

But there is also an argument for a degree of rotation, be it to combat Wolves or just to add fresher legs.

Potter’s tactical repertoire includes a 3-4-3 which could see Montoya, on the right, and Alzate operate as wing-backs.

But who would then drop to the bench?

Potter likes the way Neal Maupay and Aaron Connolly press from the front, something that was seen at Arsenal.

He said: “When you press high and you’ve got the quality that Arsenal have, they can play through you and they can cut you open pretty quickly.

“They’ve got their attacking players on the halfway line with big space behind you.

“We have to have a commitment to do what we’re doing.

“The guys did it really well, I think, for the majority of the time and that requires an understanding from a structural perspective about when you’re pressing but also a personality, an attitude and a courage to do it.

“I think Aaron can press well. Him and Neal work really well together. They do a lot of work.”

“I think, in modern football now, if you look at the Liverpool front three, they work so hard when they haven’t got the ball and they can force an error.

“If you can force the error higher up the pitch, then maybe their back four is spread or there’s that type of scenario. That was just the thoughts around using their strengths, using their attributes to try to help us.”