Leeds United: '˜Falsely' suspended academy ace Edmondson rewarded by head coach Heckingbottom

Edmondson made the trip to Carrow Road after suspension prevented him from playing in the Under-18s’ Professional Development League semi-final against Charlton Athletic.

The talented 16-year-old was dismissed in the junior side’s final regular league game, a win over Bolton Wanderers which secured first place in the PDL’s northern section, and he was absent on Saturday as the Under-18s campaign ended with a 1-0 defeat to Charlton.

Heckingbottom has talked up Edmondson’s potential having seen the forward settle quickly since a move to Leeds’ academy from York City in November and Edmondson took another step forward with his first development-squad appearance earlier this month.

A senior debut eluded him over the weekend, however, as Heckingbottom chose not to name Edmondson in his 18-man squad at Norwich, preferring to include Jay-Roy Grot, Caleb Ekuban and on-loan Pierre-Michel Lasogga instead. Right-back Luke Ayling – missing since undergoing ankle surgery in January – also journeyed to Carrow Road without appearing on the bench.

Heckingbottom insisted a trip away with the first-team squad would help Edmondson’s development, saying: “He got the experience, he saw what it was like and he’ll be better for it.

“I’ve spoken about him in the past and in the week I wasn’t going to put him (in the travelling squad) but he was wrongly sent off in an 18s game and suspended for their big game. He was down and upset and it was a good moment to bring him with us as a reward for him doing so well.”

Heckingbottom has picked through Leeds’ academy players since taking charge as head coach, handing senior debuts to defenders Tom Pearce and Paudie O’Connor and giving Bailey Peacock-Farrell a first opportunity in goal for almost two years.

Pearce made his third consecutive start in Saturday’s 2-1 loss at Carrow Road and Heckingbottom said he expected the left-back to “learn from this game” after facing heavy pressure in the second half.

Build-up on Pearce’s side of the field led to Josh Murphy’s winning goal on 69 minutes.

“Down our left, that’s where it was coming in the second half,” Heckingbottom said. “That’s where I was trying to scream.

“I’ve spoken to Tom about it and that’s what he’ll learn from this game. He needs to learn because that’s where their momentum was coming.”

Heckingbottom, meanwhile, confirmed that Northern Ireland winger Stuart Dallas would miss the club’s last game of the season against Queens Park Rangers with a minor hamstring tear.

Dallas has sat out of the last two matches, replaced at right-back by Matthew Pennington, and the injury will rule him out of QPR’s visit to Elland Road on Sunday. He could also be sidelined from Leeds’ controversial tour of Myanmar next month.

“He was playing with it and we ended up having to scan it,” Heckingbottom said. “There was some damage in there.”