Examples of leading a Leeds United team out at Elland Road for a high-pressure game in front of a massive crowd are not too hard to find for Charlie Cresswell. The 19-year-old will be at the head of the side walking out to more than 18,000 fans in a record-breaking night on Friday.
After a 10-day push for support between the first team’s fixture schedule, the United fan base has turned out in force to break the Premier League 2 attendance record. Everton had 17,525 at Goodison Park in 2017, but that number could be dwarfed by the time 7pm arrives tomorrow.
It’s more than a record attempt for the under-23s. Andrew Taylor’s side is fighting for survival in Division One with two matches to play against first-placed Manchester City and third-placed Arsenal.
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Cresswell is aware of what’s required to dig Leeds out of trouble and his first-team breakthrough in 2021/22 has added to his air of authority and confidence when he steps back in with his own age group. For all of the squads he has made and minutes he has had in the Premier League facing the likes of Michail Antonio and Romelu Lukaku, Cresswell remains grounded.
The teenager admits he would feel uncomfortable even calling himself a first-team player until he’s made 50 appearances for the senior side. Cresswell takes a lot of his approach as a leader with the under-23s from Liam Cooper, who many more than just players inside Leeds look up to.
Asked if he used his role as under-23s captain as an audition for senior captaincy down the line, Cresswell said: “I don't try and look too far in the future. I just focus on what I can do today but yes, I look up to Coops.
“I think most people in the academy, and even the club, look up to Coops because he's such a good captain, such a good role model. So if I can take little bits from Coops and what he does every day, and what he does to better himself and better the team as a collective, I can take that into my role and try to do that with my team and my team-mates.”
