Coach says Leeds are ‘pleased’ with teenager’s progress; ‘delighted’ with 20-year-old too

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Leeds United coach Mark Jackson was thrilled to see Stuart McKinstry score twice in a 3-0 victory over Reading’s U23 side on Monday, as he told LUTV.

24 hours after Niall Huggins made his first-team debut during a 4-2 defeat to Arsenal, a teenage Scot did his prospects no harm at all at Thorp Arch.

Thanks to some fine approach play from Leif Davis and Joe Gelhardt, 18-year-old McKinstry set Leeds on their way to an eighth straight Premier League 2 victory as Reading were swept aside in West Yorkshire.

That was McKinstry’s first of the season and, after 11 games without a goal, he only had to wait seven more minutes for another.

The former Motherwell starlet, who put pen to paper at Elland Road in 2019, tapped him his second of the game after more eye-catching work from Gelhardt.

And while Jackson was keen to avoid singling out individuals after a fine team display, he did have a few words of praise for McKinstry.

“He’s one of the players that we’re pleased with. It’s great to see Stuart get the two goals as well, but it was a real combined effort from the team collectively,” Jackson said after Leeds moved ten points clear of second-placed Stoke City.

“We worked hard and we had to deal with moments of the game when we were under pressure and I thought we defended and pressed really well as a group.

“And I thought, before half-time, we showed some real quality in our wide play which got us the first goal.”

Interestingly, Huggins made his senior bow just two weeks after Jackson hailed the 20-year-old’s ‘natural ability’ and versatility.

McKinstry will be hoping this is a good omen, with Marcelo Bielsa famed for his desire to give youth a chance.

“That’s what we’re here for. We’re here to prepare and ready the players to be used by Marcelo,” Jackson added. “We’ve got to challenge them every day in training and in games to get them to a level where they can be an asset to the first team.

“It was great to see Niall make his debut, I’m delighted for him.”