Leeds United see benefits from difficult EFL Trophy campaign as Blackpool dash hopes

It is a sign of the times that there have been no revellers at Blackpool Pleasure Beach in recent months.

Lights on the promenade remain switched off and the sounds that normally fill the seaside air remain eerily absent.

The usual scene of candy floss being consumed and arcade games flashing furiously amongst screams of joy have been put on hold, temporarily at least.

Inside the walls of Bloomfield Road stadium, though, football carries on under the lights but behind closed doors with echoes of empty stands becoming all too familiar for those lucky enough to be in attendance.

It has been a testing few months for Thorp Arch's young stars, with Leeds United having entered the EFL Trophy as a category one academy for the first time.

By Mark Jackson's own admission the 3-0 defeat against Blackpool signalled the end of a 'rollercoaster' ride in Group H, where victory would have claimed an unlikely spot in the knockout stages.

The Whites opted to enter the competition to hand experience to those looking to make their way in the game at Elland Road, exposing them to a different type of football away from the academy leagues.

At Accrington on the opening day, United named a side so young it was quite literally men against boys and few were left wondering what to make of it all.

The pandemic caused issues for Leeds that night, but two games later against Football League opposition you'd be hard pressed not to see the benefits for the Whites.

The tournament splits opinion among supporters and managers across the divisions, and it isn't hard to see why.

While the pros are clear for top flight teams like Leeds, who boast some of the best academy facilities in the country, it is another competition in an otherwise packed schedule for those further down the pyramid.

There is no doubt that Leeds will have gained from trips to Barrow and the Seasiders.

Max Dean hauled himself onto the radar of supporters with a fantastically taken brace against the former, while Leeds used the clash with Neil Critchley's men on Wednesday for what was essentially an Under-23s team with two first teamers.

Kiko Casilla will have felt a long way from the Bernabeu under the shadows of Blackpool Tower, but with Marcelo Bielsa in attendance it's not hard to see why United put weight into the competitive games.

The tournament perhaps didn't see the best of United this time around, especially after a lacklustre first half cost Leeds dearly in midweek.

Jackson's youth, though, can take a lot from 180 minutes of action against two battle-hardened outfits as they now turn their full focus to the Premier League 2.

"It has been a bit of a rollercoaster from the start," the Under-23s head coach reflected.

"From the first game against Accrington Stanley, where we were extremely young to where we went and competed really well against Barrow.

"Today [at Blackpool] again we had a 23s team out with a couple of senior players dropping down, but still young players apart from Kiko [Casilla].

"It's been a tough test and I think it's just what the competition is about [for Leeds].

"It's exposing young players to playing against Football League teams in a stadium and under a little bit of pressure in a league format.

"It's exactly what we want for the players. We want to stress the players and put them under pressure and see how they come through it.

"From every game we've played we've learned from it and I think the experience for the players has been first class."

For Leeds; that is the idea. The EFL Trophy provides a platform for young players in a professional environment.

"We'll take a lot from the competition," Jackson continued.

"Hopefully we're in a position next year to join the competition again and it will be great for the players to experience playing against this type of opposition in this type of stadium [Bloomfield Road] as well.

"Hopefully we can learn from the games we've played in, all different, but we can learn from them and take them on into our league campaign now.

"I'm working here with a hungry set of players. They give everything and I think they showed that."