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Mills heaps praise on up-and-coming defender, now Leeds must plan for his future – Opinion

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It looks as if we could be in for another couple of good years is this prediction turns out to be true.

A lot of the talk in the build-up to the game against Huddersfield on the weekend surrounded who would be filling the role left by Kalvin Phillips following his suspension, with the job eventually being given to defender Ben White.

And it’s White who was on the mid of former Leeds United defender Danny Mills in the aftermath of the game, as he pointed out that one player bore a striking resemblance to the 22-year-old. Speaking to Football Insider, Mills said that defender Oliver Casey, who was making his Leeds debut has a lot of the same attributes as White:

“I thought he looked very good actually. He looked very much in the mould of Ben White in all honesty. When he came on, he looked calm, he looked assured and composed when he needed to be coming out from the back. And for a young player, he looks a really good prospect.”

Quite high praise indeed, comparing him to someone that is reportedly being chased by Liverpool in a £20m deal. However Mills’ comment just offer up another chance to touch on what I said the other day regarding the U23 players, but you can throw it out to the whole of the academy if you so desire.

If there are so many talented youngsters coming through the ranks, then they need to be given game time on a regular basis. Whilst I said that it can come from opportunities in the Leeds Utd first-team, I wouldn’t totally be against the idea of them being loaned out if the situation was right.

Would U23 players be a good way to address shortfalls in January?

Yes

No

Now that he has made the breakthrough into first-team football, he needs to be able to keep that up on a regular basis, be that with us or with another club.

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