Leeds United planning imminent coaching appointment following first team exit

Ex-Leeds defender Jackson worked his way up to the senior side having coached youth sides, including the Under 18s, before a spell as head coach of the Under 23s.

When Marcelo Bielsa was sacked last February Marsch asked Jackson to step up into an interim first team coach role, which was made permanent after the Whites secured their Premier League status. But Jackson was lured away from the club he supports by a League One job offer from MK Dons, one he felt was too good to turn down.

At Newcastle United on Saturday Michael Skubala, who was appointed as Jackson's permanent replacement as Under 21s coach in the summer, filled in with the senior side. The former England futsal international coach followed in Jackson's footsteps by keeping players abreast of who they should be tracking at set-pieces.

Speaking after the game Marsch revealed that the club were expecting to make an appointment imminently in order to replace Jackson.

"I think we're close," he said. "So we'll probably make an announcement in a couple of days."

Marsch's assistants at Elland Road currently include Rene Maric and Cameron Toshack, the former already established as a renowned coach in European football despite still being only 30. Maric has served as an assistant head coach to Marco Rose at RB Salzburg, Borussia Mönchengladbach and Borussia Dortmund, before making the move to Elland Road in the summer.

Toshack, meanwhile, was part of the Swansea City coaching set-up, leading the Under 23s to a pair of league titles, and spent almost a year as head coach of Cypriot side Pafos FC. Toshack, who boasts a degree in psychology, has been tasked with drawing up individual performance plans for each player in Marsch's squad, which formed the basis of one-to-one meetings on the recent training camp in Spain.