"He's come on and done superbly in his cameo roles this season," enthused Reid to The Telegraph. "I've always tried to inject pace into the side and I feel we have done that in certain positions, but Aaron is on our own doorstep and that can only be a massive bonus.
"With his pace he can get at people. I'm excited by him - and James Milner - but it's difficult to use two players in that cameo role.
"To be fair, when I've used Aaron, he's had teams on the back foot. He has a gift where he can go by people and he has a football brain as well. I believe he's got a chance.
"But it's always difficult when you are talking about young players - and he's the youngest to play in the Premier League - although we've kept it quiet really.
"That's not been difficult these past couple of weeks when you look at the likes of Rooney, and no-one could get on the football pages because of David Beckham.
"But he is one of those you would prefer did his talking on the football pitch. We just need to look after his development."
Lennon will possibly be on the bench again for tomorrow night's game at Leicester, along with two of Reid's new recruits, Cameroon midfielder Salomon Olembe and former France U-21 international striker Cyril Chapuis.
"Physically, people still raise their eyebrows because Aaron looks a bit of a schoolboy and it would be difficult for him to start a game and last the 90 minutes, whereas Rooney looks like a man," continued Reid.
"But when he gets the ball at his feet he will tend to change people's minds because he does look sharp. He is a threat going forward.
"People are aware of him, but we just want to play it down as much as we can. It's just a matter of educating him on the football side and easing him into games."