Leeds United coach breaks silence on Elland Road plan for deadline day transfer Willy Gnonto

Leeds United’s Premier League calendar has been thrown into disarray with the postponement of senior fixtures versus Nottingham Forest and Manchester United in consecutive weeks.

The passing of Queen Elizabeth II and her subsequent state funeral mean United face a 29-day break between first-team games, however during that time the club’s youngsters will continue to feature, a total of three times in all.

Ahead of this weekend’s Premier League 2 encounter with Southampton at Elland Road, Under-21s coach Michael Skubala has been speaking to the media.

He revealed that deadline day signing Wilfried Gnonto will be ‘in contention’ to feature against the Saints’ youngsters in front of what could end up being 10,000 Leeds fans eager to get their first glimpse of the Italy international.

"I'm really looking forward to working with Willy Gnonto,” Skubala said. “He's come in, is a really good young man. He's a really good character already to have around the building – the experiences that he has already for such a young player, he’s quite an exciting player.

"He's one of those players that I hope the fans will get behind and see the excitement that he can bring to Leeds United – and what another good opportunity to have a young talent come into the club.”

Gnonto arrived on deadline day from Swiss side FC Zurich but has already won the praise of Italy boss Roberto Mancini who handed him an Azzurri debut earlier this year at the tender age of 18.

"He's obviously in contention for tomorrow with a lot of other players. Interactions [with him] have been fantastic, he's come in with his training like most players and he's trained hard, he's worked hard. His English is good, which when you come from abroad, sometimes that takes a bit of time, but his English is very good,” Skubala added.

"He's a very intelligent young man. He's obviously played at a really top top level internationally. So yeah, he's another exciting prospect and when you get more exciting prospects in the building together, what an environment for all of these young players to develop because it's competitive, it's challenging, it’s what you want.

"The more exciting your prospects you get together, the better the programme is,” Skubala finished.

Leeds take on Southampton B at Elland Road on Friday evening. Kick-off is at 7pm.