Speaking after his side had fell to a narrow defeat against Southampton, Under-21s boss Scott Gardner believed the Whites left themselves with too much to do after going two goals down before the break.

There were plenty of positives to take, however, with Rhys Chadwick’s stoppage time penalty rounding off a much improved second 45 minutes for United.

“Night and day from first half to second half,” the coach explained following the full-time whistle at the Silverlake Stadium.

“We didn’t change anything at half time, just demanded more from them, which to be fair they did and I thought they deserved something for the second half.

“Too passive in the first half. Even younger than we have been recently, particularly the starting XI, and we looked like there was a little bit of fear.

“Then the second half, they go out with no fear and they get something from the game individually. It is about doing it over 90 minutes.

“All the U18s that are coming in, the boys got an opportunity. So, if they come on and they show us something, they will get more opportunities with us. Louie Philpott, Carrick Njinko – when they came on, I thought they were very good.”

Backed by an impressive travelling contingent on the south coast, Gardner was pleased his side were able to give a good account of themselves after the break in front of the supporters.

“We spoke about it before the game and we will be disappointed with the first 45 that we showed them. Hopefully, they will go away after the second half seeing what Leeds United is about.”