Leeds United Under-21s travelled away from home and produced a superb display, comfortably beating Aston Villa on the opening day of the Premier League 2 campaign.

The Whites went into the match looking to start their season quickly and did just that, going into an early two-goal lead against their hosts. A third goal came in the second half, to wrap up the three points.

Speaking after the match, U21s head coach Scott Gardner gave his thoughts to LUTV.

He said: “We’re really pleased, more for the short turnaround from the game on Tuesday, which we were obviously disappointed with in the second half [a National League Cup defeat away at Boston United].

“It showed a lot of character to be able to put in a performance like that, and I'm really pleased for everybody involved.

“We've got some younger players who were obviously involved last year, and I thought we needed their experience at times tonight to help the younger boys.

“The younger boys have got a real good opportunity to get ahead of the game, and that's what we're doing with the 21s. We want to be young and provide as many opportunities for the younger players as possible.

“We can now build on it and continue to do the things we're doing well, and then there's lots of areas we can be better. But overall, I thought it was a pretty all-around game, and I'm excited for next Sunday now.”