Sonny Perkins doesn’t need telling to keep both feet on the ground as he continues his progression through the Leeds United youth ranks. That’s according to U21s boss Michael Skubala, who has been delighted with the forward’s attitude and professionalism as fans begin to sit up and take notice of his goalscoring exploits.
Perkins has hit the ground running at Elland Road following his summer move from West Ham United, bagging seven goals in his first six games for the club and finding the back of the net in every game he has played. His latest effort came in Friday’s 4-0 demolition of Stoke City at the LNER Community Stadium in York, with his attacking team-mate Mateo Joseph bagging a hat-trick on the night, too.
The Londoner’s effort against the Potters followed a rather successful stint with England U19 as he netted five goals in three games for the Three Lions in Denmark. Darko Gyabi joined Perkins in the national set-up and he skippered the side before returning to Elland Road to feature in Skubala’s side once more.
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The U21s boss is more than aware of the excitement building around the pair, particularly Perkins, but he doesn’t believe either man needs keeping in check.
“I think they’re good young pros,” he said after seeing his side extend their unbeaten start to the Premier League 2 season. “They know with their development what to do and they’re really good young pros so I don’t think I have to do that at all.
“In fact, I think they do that for themselves. I think that’s what you see with the whole team, they want to get better and they’re really good young professionals.”
On the international performances of the pair, he added: “It’s great because they need to go away and be tested at international level, it is good game experience, it’s a different experience and if they keep doing well in that environment, what it shows me is that they’re adaptable.
“If they can adapt to different environments like that and still do well, I think it’s pleasing. He and Darko had great games with the U19s. Sometimes the challenge is coming back and showing another performance, but their professional level today you saw another performance from both of them.
“I’ve spoken to them and I’ve spoken to their coaches already and had a debrief with the England staff which is great because that connects with us. They found it really good and again, do they go in and be good or do they go in and be the best? I like them going in and being the best when they’re in the England programme.”
Skubala will take his young side to Tranmere Rovers on Tuesday night as the Whites get their Papa John’s Trophy campaign underway and it seems he may have a strong side to choose from. Jesse Marsch revealed on Sunday that Joe Gelhardt could be involved in the game after missing out on first-team selection and one or two others could make the step down, too, in pursuit of game time.
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