Levi Colwill has been given another public show of confidence from his Albion head coach.

He was praised for his tactical courage in Albion’s win at Arsenal.

The defender on loan from Chelsea shone within the gameplan as the Seagulls impressed at the Emirates.

Head coach Roberto De Zerbi loves the left-footed option Colwill provides and has made it clear he would love to work with him beyond this season.

Perhaps significanly, he gave a glowing answer about Colwill despite being asked an initial question about Kaoru Mitoma and whether he showed courage after being flattened by Gabriel Martinelli early on.

He said: “I think the best example of courage was Colwill in this game.

“We defended man-to-man and Colwill’s man was Odegaard.

“Colwill went 90 minutes to defend with Odegaard 80 metres from Jason Steele. This is courage.”

It is believed a more permanent arrangement for Colwill at Albion is not out of the question.

Speaking ahead of the trip to Arsenal, De Zerbi said: “I would like to work with him for another two, three, four years because it’s difficult to find another left centre-back with his qualities.

“He’s a good guy, he’s improving a lot. This year his improvement has been fantastic and I hope he can stay with us.”