Mark Jackson gave his thoughts to LUTV after his young U21s side were defeated against an experienced Tranmere Rovers outfit. 

The Northern Group B Papa John’s Trophy clash saw the Whites produce plenty of positives from the display despite the defeat, which Jackson spoke about after the match. 

He said: “There’s a lot of positives from the game but we’re obviously not happy with the scoreline.

“We wanted to come here and compete. Even though we were a young team, we thought we had the capabilities to come and compete and the get the result.

“We didn’t get the result, but for a lot of the game I felt we competed well. We had good possession and in particular in the second half, we created opportunities to get back in the game.

“There are some areas we can work on for sure but there are pleasing elements the players can be proud of.

“Whichever team we put out and whoever we’re playing we want to play our game.  

“For a lot of the game I felt we did that, we’re not happy with the goals we conceded and we know we need to get better.”

Leeds have two more group matches remaining to determine who will progress into the knock-out stages, in a competition that the Under-23s head coach feels will benefit them as a group. 

“That’s what the competition is designed for,” Jackson explained.

“We were missing some of the regular Under-23s players, but these players who played will benefit from that. 

“Playing in front of a crowd in a big stadium against a seasoned team like Tranmere, who are a good and strong team, it will benefit them. 

“They are in there disappointed to lose. I don’t want to gee them up too much, they need to get used to being disappointed if they lose. 

“When they move up the ladder, it’s about results at the end of the day. Where we are, there is still an element about development and how we play.

“We can take a lot from it.”