An upbeat Whites youngsters verdict has been issued upon Leeds United’s under-21s beginning their new campaign.
Scott Gardner’s young Whites side kicked-off their new Premier League 2 season with Friday night’s clash against Stoke City which was staged at Stoke’s Bet365 Stadium home ground. Gardner’s side left with a 1-1 draw, after which the Whites boss hailed a good start for his team and saluted the opportunities that the PL2 programme is providing the club’s young players.
Stepping out at grounds such as Stoke’s home venue, said Gardner, would greatly benefit the development of his 21s who will next take in their first home game of the new season on Friday night with the visit of Aston Villa to the LNER Community Stadium in York.
Buoyed by what he saw against Stoke, Gardner says continued progression is the next requirement following Friday night’s draw in which a Luca Thomas penalty was cancelled out by a Nathan Lowe header.
“It was a great stadium to come and play the first game in,” said Gardner to LUTV. “This is the good thing about the 21s games programme. There’s opportunities like this to expose players to it. It’s a fantastic surface and playing against a physical side. A good test.
“It’s such a good experience for a young group to have and I’m relatively pleased to come away with a point. Obviously we wanted the three but away from home I think a point is a good start.”
After a goalless first half, 19-year-old forward Thomas eventually fired Leeds ahead from the penalty spot with 61 minutes on the clock. Whites defender Alfie Cresswell was sent tumbling in the box and Thomas – who featured in the recent first team friendly at Harrogate Town – converted the spot kick.
Stoke then equalised 11 minutes later through a Nathan Lowe header to a Josh Bickerton cross and there was no further scoring as the game ended one apiece. Leeds, captained for the first time by young defender Reuben Lopata-White, were denied by the woodwork shortly before going ahead as Cian Coleman’s shot cannoned back off the upright.
Gardner admitted: “We were a little bit frustrated in the first half because we worked it into some good areas. However we didn’t have the extra pass that we needed. In the second half we did and maybe we should have created a few more opportunities. On another day, the one that comes off the post, we get a goal.”
Sizing up what he was now looking for in Friday night’s clash against Villa, Gardner declared: “Just continued progress and see the things that we maybe could have done better and continue the good things that we did – in particular the directness of the opposition. I thought we dealt with that really well.”
Discussion about this post