Former Leeds United striker Noel Whelan believes that starlets Ronaldo Vieira and Kalvin Phillips showed their maturity with their impressive performances against Liverpool on Tuesday night.
Vieira, who has been a revelation under new boss Garry Monk in the present campaign, started in his side’s 2-0 loss to Liverpool, while Phillips was brought on in place of Eunan O'Kane in the 28th minute of the EFL Cup quarter-final clash at Anfield.
The duo, along with the rest of the Leeds team, showed great heart and desire on Merseyside, but Liverpool ultimately triumphed, courtesy of late strikes from Divock Origi and Ben Woodburn.
And Whelan, who thinks Leeds can take plenty of positives from the game, despite ending up on the losing side, lauded the mature performances of Vieira and Phillips against the Premier League heavyweights.
“I think you can take more positives from this than that Rotherham game last week”, he said on BBC Radio Leeds.
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“The heart and desire was so impressive. Phillips and Vieira have been exceptional tonight.
“Their work rate, quality on the ball, in a stadium like this, with a full house – it shows how mature these boys are.”
Leeds came closest to scoring when Kemar Roofe’s curling effort hit the post early on in the second half, and Whelan thinks the scoreline could have been different if the Whites had a bit of luck on Merseyside.
“The scoreline definitely flatters Liverpool – if Leeds had had a bit of luck, there'd be a different shade on that scoreline”, he added.
