Steve Evans says a key part of the legacy he left at Leeds United was promoting youngsters to the first team.
The Scot, who took charge League Two outfit Mansfield Town on Wednesday, was shown the door by the Whites in the summer, despite guiding the Yorkshire giants to a 13th-place finish in the Championship last season, when his target was simply to avoid the drop.
During his spell at Elland Road, Evans played a youthful squad, which featured the likes of Charlie Taylor, Alex Mowatt and Lewie Coyle, who have also featured in the current campaign under new head coach Garry Monk.
The 54-year-old also handed teenager Ronaldo Vieira, who has been a revelation this season, his senior Leeds debut, while goalkeeper Baily Peacock-Farrell also played under him.
And Evans, who thinks Leeds are still continuing his legacy of investing in young talents, insisted that the Whites’ identity lies with their home grown youngsters.
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"Some of our legacy at Leeds, when you see young Lewis Coyle, young Ronaldo Vieira who got the winner at Norwich, he's been special and some of the players that we've identified and some of the younger ones they've brought in since like Kemar Roofe, so we're very much a believer in young talent”, he was quoted as saying by the Nottingham Post.
"But as a head coach, I don't care whether they're 16 or 36, the one thing that everybody can identify with and I genuinely mean this, I felt it at Leeds United more than any other club I've had in my career, is young, home grown players.
"If they're good enough, young and local, then that's even better.”
Evans, who was appointed by Leeds in October 2015, counts Boston United, Crawley Town and Rotherham United amongst his former employers.
