Scott Gardner: We want to give the lads every opportunity

An exciting clash with Athletic Club B awaits for Leeds United Under-21s on Wednesday evening in the Premier League International Cup.

Having recorded a victory of Sporting CP B in their opening fixture, Whites boss Scott Gardner is confident his side can return refreshed after the break and put in another impressive display.

“We had a couple of rest days last week but not too many,” he began. “Obviously, we had another game in the EFL Cup and now we feel ready to go.

“We have done the same prep as we do for every game. The focus is always on us and trying to maximise how we can hurt the opposition.

“If we can build on what we did against Sporting, hopefully it will be a good night for us. I thought all around, on and off the ball, we showed the best version of ourselves. We also managed some moments where they tried some clever bits and pieces off the ball.

“We do our homework as we do on everybody but, again, the main focus is on us and it is just highlighting some moments where we probably need to be a little bit more savvy.

“Even in senior games, we can show some learning from those moments where we have maybe shown our youth at times and it has cost us.

“We just want to give the lads every opportunity to be exposed to different environments. The competitions we are in are different challenges and we want to provide as much of those as we can throughout. Our intention is to win every game, whether that is the cup or league.”