Mateo Joseph claims he is giving it his all in an effort to get an opportunity with Leeds United’s first team.
Speaking to the Yorkshire Evening Post, Joseph had just returned from the bench in England U20s’ 2-1 loss to Portugal on Tuesday.
Having struggled to make an impression at Leeds, the 19-year-old was playing his first minutes of the season during the international break.
Having been heavily involved during pre-season, Joseph picked up an ankle injury in the week leading up to the opening day of the season draw with Cardiff City.
As a result, he lost ground to Georginio Rutter, Willy Gnonto, Crysencio Summerville, Joel Piroe, Dan James, Jaidon Anthony, Joe Gelhardt, and Ian Poveda for a spot in the leading four at Elland Road.
With that in mind, Joseph has featured as an unused substitute just twice all season, meaning he is among that group of players in between the U21s and senior side.
Speaking to the YEP after representing England, Joseph has vowed to continue working hard in order to earn his chance.
He said: “Obviously it’s a difficult task to get into the Leeds team. They obviously have a quality squad. They’re playing really good now. But obviously [I’m] working hard, trying to get as many minutes as I can in a club like Leeds and just put my head down and work hard.
“Daniel is a great coach from what I’ve seen. He’s pushing the young players, he was surprised with all the young players in the pre-season. It’s gonna be difficult because there are senior players with good performances this year. But it’s trying to get in that team [doing] whatever is possible.”
Joseph hasn’t even played any minutes for the U21s this season either and his development is clearly going to stagnate if he never plays.
As such, a loan move in January seems like the most plausible solution to prove he has what it takes to cut it in senior football.
It is going to take an incredible amount of injuries for him to be given a chance at Leeds this season, and so he can’t just sit on his hands in the hope it might arise.
