Sixteen-year-old Harry Gray believes he should have scored more than his mere three goals against the first team of fifth-tier club Scunthorpe United on Tuesday evening.
The teenager continued his fine form for the club’s academy with a treble to hand Leeds United's under-21s their first win in the National League Cup, which the team won last season thanks to Gray’s winner in the final.
The competition, which was only established last year, pits the under-21s of several Premier League and Championship clubs against the first teams of National League outfits. The aim is to help develop these youngsters by offering them matches against senior opposition.
Rhys Chadwick starred in the competition last time with four goals and he was eventually named the under-21s player of the year aged 18. He was taken on the first-team’s pre-season tour by Daniel Farke alongside Gray.
Gray’s hat-trick on Tuesday adds to his four goals in three Premier League 2 games, having also provided an assist in the 4-1 EFL Trophy defeat to Port Vale a fortnight ago. He made the senior matchday squad for the first team a week earlier for the League Cup defeat to Sheffield Wednesday.
The club are keen to shield Gray from external pressure given his surname lineage and obvious talent at such a young age. His hunger is clear to see, as his post-match comments on Tuesday reveal.
“I’m happy with the three goals, but I should have had more to be fair. Two chances I missed, so I can always improve,” Gray candidly told club media after the win over Scunthorpe.
“It was good to have different types of goals you can score too, it makes your game unpredictable. So yeah, it was important to score, but goals are goals at the end of the day, I don't care how I score them as long as we win.
“[Winning] was definitely important tonight, because we've had some decent performances against professional first teams and had nothing really to show for it.
“So today we played well and we got a result from it, which is great for everyone. Now we just need to keep working hard as always and enjoying the games, being confident and feeling good.”
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