Leeds United’s Under-18 side endured the heartbreak of bowing out of the FA Youth Cup on Monday.
Mark Jackson has told LUTV that almost all of his Leeds Under-18 side – including some staff members – were left in tears following their FA Youth Cup exit at Turf Moor on Monday night.
Burnley’s youngsters eliminated the Leeds lads as an 84th-minute winner from Jordan Cropper was enough to see the Clarets progress in the competition.
And Jackson, who played for the club until 2000, reveals that the players and staff alike took the defeat hard, suggesting the group was too good to have been eliminated.
“The lads were in tears, nearly all of them were and some of the staff were as well because we know the group of players we have got here,” he told LUTV.
“There is a togetherness, a desire within the group to want to work hard and do everything they can for this football club.
“That typifies what we are as a club, right from the owners all the way down to the first team, the Under-23s and the Under-18s – the togetherness is what Leeds United are about.”
Several members of the Under-23 squad were named in Jackson’s starting XI, including Jamie Shackleton, Jack Clarke – a 16-year-old who signed his first professional deal last week – and Kun Temenuzhkov, who joined Leeds from Barcelona in the summer, but they failed to get the win regardless.
Jackson’s side will get the chance to bounce back on Friday when they face Bolton Under-18s in the league, but even a win is unlikely to compensate for the disappointment of their early defeat.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
