Stoke City manager Mark Hughes has admitted he can sometimes "underestimate" the value of utility man Geoff Cameron as the United States international faces a race to be fit for the match against Swansea on Monday.
A defender by trade, the 31-year-old has moved to partner Glenn Whelan in the defensive midfield to great affect. Since joining Stoke from the Houston Dynamo in 2012, Cameron has also played central-defence and right-back.
And Hughes hailed the American's sometimes overlooked impact on his side.
"I think the thing with Geoff is that sometimes you can underestimate the effect he can have on games in terms of his ability to get around the pitch and effect things and break things up," said Hughes on Friday.
"He can do that to good effect clearly when he's playing in more defensive positions like full-back or centre-half but I think we underestimate his value to the team sometimes. Sometimes because of his versatility that he's got that you don't appreciate him in any given position.
"I think defensive midfield or central midfield is something he's more than able to deal with and the impact he's had has clearly helped us as a team, alongside Glenn. I think that solidity has helped the guys at the back as well."
Hughes highlighted Cameron's abilities going forward in addition to his usually solid defensive work.
"We encourage him not only to be a defensive-minded player but to get forward as well and he's done that to good effect,"Hughes said. "You saw at Man United he had two or three good opportunities to score himself and that's the case of getting him up the field and into good areas where he's in place on the edge of the box.
"He's an intelligent footballer as well, an experienced international and he's playing really well at the moment."
The 47-time U.S. international has been hampered by a knee injury from which Hughes is hoping he can play through the pain in Monday's clash against Swansea.
"He's a little bit sore and that's going to have to settle down to enable him to play," Hughes added.
"But we're hopeful that by Saturday or Sunday at the latest we'll get him back on the grass. He's going to have a little bit of pain but if he can manage that pain and it doesn't inhibit him or hinder him in terms of what he wants to do on the pitch then he should be OK."