Paddy McNair says youngster James Wilson is destined to be a hero at Manchester United

Manchester United youngster Paddy McNair believes his fellow Academy graduate James Wilson has everything it takes to become a hero at Old Trafford.

The 19-year-old striker made a sensational debut under interim manager Ryan Giggs last season, scoring a brace in the 3-1 victory over Hull.

He was expected to become established in the first-team during this campaign following the departures of both Javier Hernandez Chicharito to Real Madrid and Danny Welbeck to Arsenal but an injury during the start of the new campaign hampered his breakthrough.

Nevertheless following his return to action Louis van Gaal has handed him five Premier League appearances in big games including against Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal – while recently claiming that he is even ready to compete against Radamel Falcao and Robin van Persie for a place in the XI.

While McNair has been among those to feel the biggest benefit of van Gaal's trust in the Academy, the centre-back believes "it is a matter of time" Wilson gets the same luck in the first team.

"Oh, he's brilliant. I think he's got everything. There's nothing he can't do. It's just a matter of time before he gets his first hat-trick at Old Trafford! He works really hard and it's a real challenge to face him in training," McNair said, according to the club's official website.

Meanwhile, McNair has claimed that working alongside Wilson and other world class strikers like Wayne Rooney, Robin van Persie and Rafamel Falcao is helping him to develop his defensive skills.

"It's hard – not great for confidence! But it's obviously really good for me. It's only going to make me a better defender to be playing against world class strikers every day," McNair added.

"I'm just looking forward to the season continuing and trying to get better each day. Their goalscoring records speak for themselves, so if I can stop them in training then I must be doing something right."