‘A Work In Progress’ – McSweeney Assesses U21s’ Development

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‘A Work In Progress’ – McSweeney Assesses U21s’ Development

Leon McSweeney is looking for our Under-21s to build consistency as the players build into the rhythm of the season.

2026-09-16T16:00+01:00

by Sam Jones

Published

16 Sep, 2026

‘A Work In Progress’ – McSweeney Assesses U21s’ Development

Leon McSweeney is looking for our Under-21s to build consistency as the players build into the rhythm of the season.

Sam Jones

2026-09-16T16:00+01:00

‘A Work In Progress’ – McSweeney Assesses U21s’ Development

Leon McSweeney is looking for our Under-21s to build consistency as the players build into the rhythm of the season.

Sam Jones

2026-09-16T16:00+01:00

‘A Work In Progress’ – McSweeney Assesses U21s’ Development

Leon McSweeney is looking for our Under-21s to build consistency as the players build into the rhythm of the season.

Sam Jones

2026-09-16T16:00+01:00

‘A Work In Progress’ – McSweeney Assesses U21s’ Development

Leon McSweeney is looking for our Under-21s to build consistency as the players build into the rhythm of the season.

Sam Jones

2026-09-16T16:00+01:00

Our Under-21s lost 3-0 to Brighton & Hove Albion in Premier League 2
Coach Leon McSweeney reflected on recent results and the improvements required
We host West Ham United at LCFC Training Ground this Friday (7pm BST kick-off)

Suffering a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Brighton & Hove Albion last Friday night, the coach wants to see more consistency in our play but believes that will come in time as the squad become more accustomed to this level, as demonstrated in the previous two seasons, when we reached the end-of-season Premier League 2 Play-Offs.

“I think for us it's a work in progress and there were a lot of good things, particularly [in the] first half that came out of the game on Friday,” the 43-year-old commented following that reverse at AMEX Elite Football Performance Centre. “What we've been guilty of is inconsistency.

“We do it for a certain period of time and then just give cheap goals away, which undoes the great work that we're doing. It's a new group bedding into U21s and a lot of them are acclimatising into U21s football. It is going to take time, but it's about learning from the errors, how we can improve individually and then that will improve the collective.

“The success that we've had over the course of the last two years really has reflected in the players that have stepped up and that are impacting on the First Team.

Looking for progress.

“That's the exciting part of working with this age group. You do your job, you move players on, which is the remit, and then it starts again getting the next cohort ready and getting a move in the right direction to senior football.

“We're starting with a brand new group and the cycle starts again with getting a really young group ready and the challenges that presents. It's that awareness of building consistency, which is always the case at U21s football.

“That's the challenge for us as coaches. But what we have to manage is that with results, they can breed confidence, but they can also sap it.

“Our job is to make the group aware that a lot of the stuff we're doing is good, that they need to trust the process, buy into the process, which they are doing - they're doing exactly what we're asking them to do.

“Then it's about trying to improve game on game and eventually, once we build towards that consistency, which will come, I've no doubt about that, because it's happened in the last few years.

“We've always started slowly and then we hit the ground and we can start flying. It's a case of grinding through the tough times in terms of what the results are showing but also being aware that there's so much good going on as well and stay the course.”

Our last victory came against Plymouth Argyle in the Premier League Cup.

Also reflecting on our recent National League Cup outing against Truro City, which saw the home side claim a 4-1 victory, McSweeney explained the importance of facing senior opposition, and the difficulties which such a game presents, in order to aid development.

He continued: “The challenges of travelling there and preparing for the game, and then the intensity with which Truro started the game was one that the players were ready for, but perhaps we didn't start quickly enough and match that intensity.

“When we got the goal back in that game, we settled down for five or six minutes and then we started playing our stuff and looked confident. We were going into the game with a bit of naivety and probably inexperience.

“You gift a third goal out of nothing and it's a big mountain to climb, but that's the beauty of the age group we’re walking with. It's that learning that comes with those fixtures.

“It's a great competition for the guys to be in and they certainly would have learned a lot from that. [There were] some great moments in the game for us as a group, but it's balancing that with the result and not reading too much into it and taking the learning that go with that.

“But also understanding what was good about it, how we coped [in the] second half, how we had to see the game out under set pieces, long throws, and being bombarded and then it's how you stand up to that in those moments.

Heading back to Seagrave this Friday.

“We fell on the wrong side of a harsh scoreline, but the players will be stronger for that moving forward and it's our job to make sure, hopefully, that those learnings are transferred into the upcoming fixtures and progress can be seen.”

West Ham United are up next for the young Foxes on Friday, returning home to LCFC Training Ground for a 7pm kick-off after back-to-back away matches last week.

“Going to Truro on a Tuesday and then away to Brighton on a Friday is probably as gruelling as it's going to get at any level of football," he added.

“There’s been a lot of mileage clocked up and it'll be nice now to have a full training week here in Seagrave and focus on our first home game in the league.”