Leeds United's U23 side secured their first home league win of the 2021/22 campaign with victory over Derby County in Premier League 2 Division 1 action yesterday evening.
The young Whites esnured of a 2-0 scoreline, courtesy of goals from Amari Miller and Charlie Allen, to earn a much-needed three points.
Leeds' youngsters had been without a league win since September, which had led to questions over the progress being made in the group by some supporters on social media.
Marcelo Bielsa's latest comments - and actions - have reiterated his faith in the U23 setup at Leeds, as he commended the accommodating work being carried out by Mark Jackson and his team of staff and players.
Bielsa also handed further Premier League debuts to Leeds teenagers Leo Hjelde and Lewis Bate on Sunday in the 3-2 win over West Ham United.
Hjelde's introduction meant Leeds had awarded eight Premier League debuts to teenagers this season - a record in England's top flight since the Premier League's inception.
Speaking earlier this year, Bielsa implied that he understood the reasons for the U23s' form of late, and that it was a result of his own desire to cherry-pick the more experienced young players to fill out his first-team squad, thus leaving U18s to fill in at the level above.
"I think it's a group with a lot of qualities," he said of the development squad group. "They are very close to the first team. We count on the support from their manager [Mark Jackson]. He helps us in a big way in the management of his U23s; the first team is missing ten players and those ten players are replaced by players from the U23s. As a result, the U23s also have ten players missing and the same happens with the U18s.
"It is very complicated for everybody to balance out the absences."
Leeds' 23s often make multiple half-time substitutions, which has contributed to the team losing leads in games this season. This has been to limit the minutes played by those who are required in the first-team setup.
Jackson stated he was pleased to hear Bielsa's comments on the matter, whilst also stressing his focus has remained on player development and supporting the Argentine head coach throughout the 23s' difficult run.
"It's always nice to hear the manager say those words and maybe clear things up for people," he said. "It's not my place to do that, my job is to work with the team and the players we have available and support the manager and support the first-team - that's our job first and foremost as a group of players, as a group of staff.
"It was nice of him to mention that and probably clear it up because to everybody it's probably not clear why we play certain teams or why we make certain substitutions and things like that, but like I said I've got a good group of players I work with here; they're becoming really adaptable which is a positive sign for them moving forward."
Leo Hjelde and Lewis Bate's unceremonious introduction to proceedings on Sunday afternoon saw them assimilate to the game seamlessly - a reflection of the work done to prepare them for first-team opportunities by the U23s staff.
Despite their troubling mid-season run, it appears the youngsters, still depleted, have turned a corner with two wins in their last two across all competitions.
