Leeds United: this player will get chance – Evans

Leeds United have one of the most productive Academy set ups in the English professional leagues, recently being ranked second in terms of productivity.

Players that have graduated from the Leeds United Academy in recent years such as Sam Byram, James Milner, Aaron Lennon and Fabian Delph grace the squads of Premier League teams.

Speaking in the above linked article, current Academy boss Paul Hart says that the success of the Leeds United Academy is down to one thing – player promotion. Speaking on this matter Hart said, “What separates the Leeds United Academy from many of our rivals is that we actually put people in the first team.”

Currently Leeds have three ex-Academy players established in the first team squad in Charlie Taylor, Lewis Cook and Alex Mowatt, with current Under-21 captain Lewie Coyle also recently having made the breakthrough. Leeds coach Steve Evans also says another player could get his chance in the run-in to the end of the season – Kalvin Phillips.

Phillips actually broke through at the end of last season, scoring his first senior goal at Elland Road against Cardiff and also signing a new two-year contract that takes him through to the summer of 2017. Now Leeds boss Evans says that the youngster will get his chance again, dependent on how he performs.

Quoted in a Yorkshire Evening Post article, Evans said, “Kalvin Phillips will play some games before the end of the season if his performances on the training ground and in the Under-21s dictate that they should do.”

In the same article, Evans also mentions that the club has a view that sending players out on loan to lower-league clubs to gain experience is not something that the club necessarily see as worthwhile. On this, Evans says, “right at this minute [the club prefer] to keep them inside and when they are inside, they are learning and doing things right and progressing doing towards the first team.”

So, Kalvin Phillips has a road map to success set out before him; continued progress in training and for the Under-21s will see him get that extended chance for an opportunity in the first team squad.

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