David Prutton salutes progress of Leeds United youngster and cites Whites example to follow

Twenty-year-old forward Greenwood has bagged his first two Premier League assists in United's last two away games having been handed a decent chunk of minutes by new head coach Jesse Marsch.

The former Arsenal youngster was brought on in the 23rd minute for the injured Patrick Bamford in last month's epic 3-2 victory at Wolves in which Greenwood set up Rodrigo for United's equalising goal.

Greenwood was then an unused substitute in the subsequent 1-1 draw at home to Southampton but the forward swapped places with Dan James in the 67th minute of the recent 3-0 win at Watford and effectively set up United's last two goals.

Only Greenwood's precise pass to set up Jack Harrison's strike counted as an assist but the Sunderland-born striker also supplied the through ball from which Rodrigo netted after a Hornets mix-up in defence.

Greenwood, who was signed from Arsenal's Academy in August 2020, then drew huge praise from Marsch in his post-match press conference, the Whites boss naming Greenwood as the player who had best adapted to his methods since his arrival.

Greenwood was handed his Whites first team debut by former boss Marcelo Bielsa in the FA Cup clash at Crawley Town of January 2021 and three more outings under the Argentine followed, but with a nine-month wait for his second game.

The forward's second appearance came as a second-half substitute in October's EFL Cup clash defeat at Arsenal and another outing from the bench in December's league hosting of the Gunners was next before a first start in January's FA Cup tie at West Ham in which he picked up a knee injury.

The attacker required surgery and missed the next two months but the youngster has made a big impact upon his return under Marsch and Prutton has been highly impressed.

Prutton said of Greenwood: "The new manager is going to be here for a decent amount of time so well done to him and kudos to him for hitting the ground running and impressing the new manager.

"That's what always happens with any management change.

"You obviously can't underestimate what Marcelo has done and also with blooding the younger players.

"But if Jesse has come in and seen somebody with a new set of eyes and suddenly he has got more of a chance then it's up to him to take it and I think it is a big pat on the back for a player to come in and assert themselves in a side where positions are up for grabs.

"There's that core set of players and there is a best first XI but there's also that sense of it being a new start for a lot of players to be able to go in there and show Jesse what they are about."

Speaking after Greenwood's display in this month's 3-0 win at Watford, Marsch said of the forward: “Sam’s been really good since we’ve been here and I said to him that if I look at the entire player pool, he’s the one that’s adapting the best and understanding what we want the game to be like.

“I think he showed that (at Watford) and he also has quality. He has the ability to make some final plays, he’s very technical, so we’ve got to find ways to include him more,."