Lewie Coyle has admitted he had to temporarily leave Leeds United in order to play regular first-team football.
The Elland Road full-back insisted that his future plans revolve around Leeds but he has no doubt that joining Fleetwood Town on a season-long loan was the right move after being stuck on the fringes at his parent club.
Coyle has made a huge impression while at the League One club, collecting a series of man-of-the-match awards decided by supporters’ votes.
The right-back’s 11 appearances for the third-tier outfit have yielded an impressive four assists, three of which have come in the league.
“I’m just at the stage where I need to do more than sit on the bench,” Coyle told the Yorkshire Evening Post. “That’s not me complaining. There are plenty of great players at Leeds and they deserve to be ahead of me but at some stage you’ve got to start playing week in week out.
“The thing is, I don’t see myself as young anymore. I look around football and there are kids of 16, 17, 18 coming through at all levels. Saying ‘I’m still young’ – it’s true in a way but you can’t say that forever. It’s got to be better for me to be playing games regularly in a competitive environment.”
Coyle signed a new three-year contract with Leeds that runs until 2020 before he went out on loan.
“The aim for me is to help Fleetwood go up this season but also to play well enough to go back to Leeds and put myself in the shop window for the manager there,” he added to the YEP. “I’m a very ambitious person and I don’t like settling for second best but I’m realistic as well. I know I have to play and I know I have to do well (at Fleetwood). I’ve got to show that I’m good enough.”
OPINION
The right-back has made just 23 senior Leeds appearances since graduating from their academy, but found himself behind Luke Ayling, Gaetano Berardi and Vurnon Anita in the right-back pecking order in pre-season. Coyle has hit the ground running at Fleetwood and been a regular starter for the team managed by former Elland Road boss Uwe Rosler. At Leeds, he will have some work to do next summer to make it to the first team. Ayling is one of United’s outstanding players and does not look like he is going anywhere soon.