Leeds United’s brightest young talents are facing a new challenge following their success over the opening half of the season. That’s according to Under-21s boss Michael Skubala, who has watched his brightest and most dangerous players receive special treatment from opposing Premier League 2 Division 2 sides.
Sonny Perkins, Mateo Joseph and Darko Gyabi have been a part of Jesse Marsch’s plans over the last few months with all three making their senior debuts for the Whites after starring in the club’s youth team. Joseph and Gyabi have both made Premier League appearances, too, as they continue to work their way towards becoming regulars at a senior level.
The trio will continue to train with the first-team for the remainder of the season but, unless a loan can be organised over the next week, they’ll continue to play most of their football with the U21s. Skubala has seen all three players boosted by their senior involvement recently but he has also seen them tested in different ways in the youth side.
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“They're in a good place,” the U21s boss, who has been helping out at a first-team level since Mark Jackson’s exit, said. "I think they're playing well. They're working hard.
“I think the challenge they've got is in the 21s teams know they're good and man mark them. Last week, we had Sonny man-marked and players are stopping them playing a lot more. So even though they're coming and getting minutes with the 21s and playing with the 21s, they are now being targeted as the stars if you like, and that's a different challenge to being a young player coming through.
“So they've now got to deal with the challenges of being a star and people targeting them, which, again, is another challenge for them. How can they be consistent with that as well and keep performing.”
While Perkins is still waiting to make a league appearance in the colours of Leeds, he has grabbed his first senior goal, popping up with a late equaliser in the FA Cup against Cardiff City earlier this month.
“I think it’s brilliant,” Skubala added when asked what that goal will do for the youngster moving forward. “Sonny playing and coming in against Cardiff getting a goal doing well, we're pushing him all the time to be moving to the next level.
"We're still pushing him to be better all the time, his performance, that's what we need to do. So even though he's in there doing well, same as some of the other young players who are close, but you need to keep improving and one thing these younger players need is consistency and they need to keep playing at a level that's consistent all the time. And that's part of this programme, to help them with their level of consistency.”
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