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Ben Parker has given big credit to Leeds Untied’s Pascal Struijk, stating that the youngster will have exceeded his own expectations this season.

Struijk, who has been with the Leeds academy since 2018, has been a regular in the first-team squad this season at Elland Road.

The 21-year-old has already made 17 senior appearances across all competitions this campaign.

He’s a 6ft 3in colossus that has shown his versatility by dropping in as a defensive midfielder at times, but predominately he’s a centre-back by trade.

With so many injuries in the heart of defence this season, Struijk has regularly been asked to step in.

Parker has explained that he feels the Leeds youngster will have surpassed his own pre-season expectations:

“The amount of minutes he’s played in the Premier League I think it’s probably even surpassed his expectations,” Parker told the LS11 podcast.

“Injuries in a squad present itself an opportunity to a young player. That’s predominantly how a young player gets in due to an opportunity or a suspension and then when you get given that opportunity it’s up to you to grasp it, and he’s certainly grasped it… He’s been a huge positive again this year.”

TBR’s View:

Struijk has played every minute of the last nine consecutive Premier League games, which shows a lot about how much he’s developed in the past couple of months.

The left-footed enforcer has made the odd individual error, particularly when he’s in his less favoured position in midfield.

But he continues to go from strength to strength with his development and he’s delivered some excellent individual displays at centre-half.

Leeds can certainly get more out of his aerial threat too, as he scored a bullet header against Arsenal in the previous match.