Paudie O’Connor made his Leeds United debut during their latest Championship clash.
With Matthew Pennington and Liam Cooper on the injury list for Leeds at the moment, Heckingbottom handed O’Connor the chance to become the latest under-23 starlet to get their opportunity in the first-team as he played alongside Pontus Jansson for the home game against the Black Cats.
It was an underwhelming afternoon for Leeds as they could only secure a 1-1 draw against the team now looking destined to be relegated to League One. But it was an encouraging performance from O’Connor, who did not look out of place in the first-team. And after the game, he suggested that he was pleased with his performance and shared the encouragement that the head coach had given him before the game.
“Before the game, the gaffer pulled me to say to play your usual game, be composed on the ball, just play like you would do if it was a 23s game so I tried to do that as much as possible and I think it went okay.”
It certainly gives Leeds fans another small reason to be positive as the campaign continues to fizzle out in disappointing fashion. The academy starlets who have been called up have all performed well when given a chance, and Bailey Peacock-Farrell has shown what is possible as he surely has to be considered the club’s number one amongst the current options.
O’Connor will do extremely well to hold onto his place if Pennington or Cooper return this season, but with defence proving to be a problematic position for the Whites this season, it may not be out of the question to suggest that he can make a statement in the remaining weeks of the season that will leave him in a good place ahead of next term.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
