Leeds United Under-21s exited the Papa John’s Trophy on Wednesday after suffering defeat at against Blackpool.

Head coach Mark Jackson spoke exclusively to LUTV following the conclusion of the match at Bloomfield Road, in which the Seasiders ran out 3-0 winners.

He gave his thoughts on the game and also spoke about the competition as a whole and how it has been a positive experience for his young side.

“It was a tough challenge for the boys,” said Jackson.

“We knew it would be, they are a strong team and like us, they wanted to progress in the competition.

“I thought we showed some good stuff, particularly in the second half, to create some chances, but the goals were sloppy, which we need to look at.

“The effort from the players was good, we tried to play our way which is always important, so there were pleasing elements, but the result was not so good.

“This is what the competitions is about, it’s exposing young players to playing against Football League teams in stadiums, under a bit of pressure in a league format and that is what we want for the players.

“We want to put them under pressure and see how they come through it and from every game we’ve learnt from it and I think the experience for the players has been first class.

“I hope we can learn from all of the games we’ve played in and go forward into our league campaign now.”