Do Lewie Coyle’s comments suggest Leeds United could face an uphill struggle to keep hold of him?

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Leeds United defender Lewie Coyle has suggested that he wants first-team football.

Lewie Coyle’s comments to the Yorkshire Evening Post suggest that Leeds United face an uphill task in keeping him satisfied in the future.

Coyle has been loaned out to Fleetwood Town this season, and the right-back has impressed at League One level.

It seems that Coyle is now getting a taste for playing regular football, and he has suggested that if he returns to Leeds, he will want to be in the starting line-up.

“I’m just at the stage where I need to do more than sit on the bench. That’s not me complaining,” Coyle said. “There are plenty of great players at Leeds and they deserve to be ahead of me but at some stage you’ve got to start playing week in week out.

“The thing is, I don’t see myself as young anymore. I look around football and there are kids of 16, 17, 18 coming through at all levels. Saying ‘I’m still young’ – it’s true in a way but you can’t say that forever. It’s got to be better for me to be playing games regularly in a competitive environment.”

Coyle did go on to suggest that his ultimate aim is to return to Leeds and represent his boyhood club in the Premier League.

However, if the 21-year-old is serious about wanting to play regularly, then he will have to impress Thomas Christiansen during his loan spell.

Leeds already have some excellent options at right-back, with Gaetano Berardi and Luke Ayling both competing for the spot.

Ayling and Berardi are recognised as two of the finest defenders in the Championship, and Coyle faces a hard task to displace either of the pair.

And that means that another move could be on the cards when Coyle’s switch to Fleetwood comes to an end.