Paul Heckingbottom commented on the chances of 19-year-old Tom Pearce making his senior debut for Leeds United this season.
The Whites manager shared that he knew about the young left-back ahead of succeeding Thomas Christiansen as manager of Leeds in February, as he had enquired about his availability when he was Barnsley manager.
Yorkshire Evening Post correspondent Phil Hay shared via his personal Twitter account, that Heckingbottom stated that the teenager had a “chance” of featuring for the first-team.
On Tom Pearce, United's young left-back, Heckingbottom said he was someone he enquired about when he was manager at Barnsley. "He's got attributes which are really good. He's got a chance." #lufc
— Phil Hay (@PhilHay_) March 8, 2018
Heckingbottom commented on Pearce during his press conference ahead of Leeds’ game against Reading on Saturday, and Leeds Live revealed, from that same conference, that the manager had spoken to the teenager about getting into the first-team.
The Leeds manager, according to Leeds Live,has sat down with Pearce and explained to him that he needs to keep working hard in order to make his first senior appearance for the club.
OPINION
Pearce’s reputation precedes him and Leeds’ fans would certainly welcome seeing a young talented defender feature for their side, especially as he has been at the Yorkshire giants for his whole career. The left-back has come close to making his first senior appearance before this season, but hasn’t managed to get off the bench as of yet. Peace was an unused substitute in the league games against Hull City and Cardiff and was on the bench when Leeds surprisingly lost to Newport County in the FA Cup. Vurnon Anita is currently playing at left-back for Leeds and given the fact he’s hardly impressing anyone with his performances, Heckingbottom should try Pearce out in the first-team this season.