Leeds United U21s manager Michael Skubala was pleased with the way some of the fringe players took their opportunity in the 4-2 win over Newcastle United. The young Whites were without Leo Hjelde, Darko Gyabi, Sean McGurk and Mateo Joseph in Monday's victory, while Sonny Perkins was also only on the bench.
Skubala made nine changes in total from the side that drew 0-0 with Crewe Alexandra in the EFL Cup, with Max Dean, James Debayo, Joseph Snowdon and Morten Spencer among some of the non-regulars to come into the XI. Leeds have been flying in PL2 Division 2 this season and even without a number of key players, kept their run going to move onto 25 points from nine matches.
Dean and Snowdon were among those to particularly impress, with the former netting a hattrick and the latter providing two assists. Speaking to LUTV after the win, Skubala revealed what he told his players before the game, labelling it as an 'amazing opportunity' to stake a claim for a regular role.
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“An amazing opportunity, we talked to some of the players coming in today to get starts, which they’ve been working hard in training for, and working hard behind the scenes. I said to them this is your opportunity to take those starts and claim a spot ready for the new year.
“Yeah it’s amazing the goals. Max Dean has got three today, Kris Moore has got a goal today so it’s really good that we’ve got goals all around the team. We’re still working hard and still pushing and I think the group still has so much more to go.
"We are no where near where we want to be so we’re working hard to be even better. I think at times in the first half we didn’t look ourselves and then second half at times we looked really good.”
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