‘World class’: Leeds-supporting pundit blown away by U23 display from 18-year-old awaiting PL2 debut

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Ben Parker has labelled the performance of goalkeeper Harry Christy world class as Leeds United’s under-23 beat Mansfield Town in the Premier League Cup on LUTV on Monday.

With Mark Jackson without a number of superb talents due to the international break, the Leeds boss promoted a number of prospects yet to establish themselves in the under-23 fold.

Christy was one of those who came into the side with the likes of Kristoffer Klaesson and Dani van den Heuvel unavailable.

It proved to be a successful night for Leeds. They won 2-1 in York, with Sean McGurk and Max Dean scoring in the second-half.

Christy was beaten late on after a smart finish from the edge of the box. But that goal only came after the 18-year-old had produced a number of outstanding stops.

The youngster looked assured throughout the evening. And he may have evoked thoughts of Illan Meslier with a save with 17 minutes remaining when he threw himself at the feet of the Mansfield player who found himself through on goal.

Remarkably, he managed to deflect the attempt onto the bar and out for a corner. And that prompted Parker to outline just how impressed he had been with Christy’s display.

“Three or four of his saves tonight, world class,” he told LUTV. “That last one was probably the best of the bunch. Had no time to come out, decision making spot on yet again. Just did enough to get a deflection onto the bar. Superb goalkeeping.”

Likes of Harry Christy and Dani van den Heuvel may have big opportunity at Leeds

Leeds boast such a strong group of young goalkeepers.

Meslier is the clear number one. And it would certainly appear that Klaesson is next in the pecking order behind the Frenchman.

Having said that, Klaesson has not had the easiest time since moving to Elland Road in the summer. It does appear that he still has some way to go with the under-23s.

So the likes of Christy and van den Heuvel must feel that they could have an opportunity to put a little pressure on the Norwegian.

Certainly, Christy has put a lot of people on alert with his performance this week.