Leeds United Head Coach Uwe Rosler has challenged young striker Lewis Walters to work harder next season after failing to give him a squad number, reports Inside Futbol.
The 20-year-old pushed for a place in the first-team last season under previous head coach Neil Redfearn, making appearances on the bench after the former academy coach claimed he was ready for Championship football.
Under Rosler however, Walters has been told to work harder over a longer period of time as opposed to being fast-tracked into first-team football as previously expected under Redfearn.
When asked about not giving Walters a first-team squad number, Rosler told BBC Radio Leeds that “we have an Under-21 group who have located their squad numbers, but they are not registered.
“I only register players who are called first team players on merit. Every young player has to work very, very hard to get into the first team squad.
“At the moment they train with us regularly, we see them every day. At times they are playing in the Under-21s to get match minutes.
“I like hard work over a long time and then you can call yourself a first team player. “That is the way I’ve always done it and I will do the same here.”
Walters’ hard work was rewarded with a one-year contract extension earlier this summer. Despite this new contract, it seems that the young forward will have limited opportunity to appear in the first-team in the upcoming campaign. The arrival of Chris Wood and Lee Erwin and the imminent arrival of Stuart Dallas means that chances in The Whites’ forward three will be hard to come by for the youngster.
