England U21s coach offers opinion on 'outstanding' Charlie Cresswell's Leeds United game-time

After the tumult of a final day victory over Brentford and the relieved celebrations that followed, Leeds United's players could have been excused for seeking rest and relaxation throughout the month of June.

While certain members of the squad jetted off to far-flung destinations, such as the Maldives in Jack Harrison's case, others were called up by their national sides and flown across borders for a very different brief.

Having spent a couple of days with the likes of Sam Greenwood in Marbella, Charlie Cresswell was summoned by England Under-21s manager Lee Carsley for a quadruple-header of international fixtures.

First up was a trip to the Czech Republic, where Cresswell made just his second start for the Young Lions as they ran out 2-1 winners in what proved to be a crucial result.

Beating the Czechs twice in their UEFA Under-21 European Championships qualification group, as well as a comfortable 3-0 win over Albania in Chesterfield in the days that followed, meant that even if the central European nation defeated Andorra later this week, England would still qualify automatically for next summer's tournament.

Three goals against Albania at the Technique Stadium on Tuesday night sealed qualification; one of which was created by Charlie Cresswell's back post header, looping back across goal to be turned in by Arsenal forward Folarin Balogun.

Following his side's victory, Carsley spoke to the media, hailing Cresswell and his central defensive partner Taylor Harwood-Bellis of Manchester City.

"Ideally, you want three or four that are really pushing for that position. But them two have been outstanding so far this international window," he said.

"I think there's a lot of strengths that they've both got. I think it's important that we don't forget about Levi [Colwill]. Levi has played a big part of this camp, we've still got Clinton Mola that's played as well."

Despite Cresswell's two starts, two victories and one clean sheet this month, the Leeds youngster does still have a battle on his hands to retain a spot in Carsley's XI.

As Harwood-Bellis wears the armband, Cresswell is in direct competition with Chelsea's Levi Colwill, who excelled on loan at Huddersfield Town last year, and VfB Stuttgart's Clinton Mola who also developed in the Chelsea setup.

"I think ideally you want him to play with the club he's at, but ultimately we'll probably find this now next season that we'll have a lot more players that are in their first teams or in a first-team," Carsley told the YEP.

"I always think at the start of the campaign, you've got a lot of players, two, three, four, maybe five players that are in the 23s still, but high potential players for us. Yeah, it's important like we spoke about yesterday that the players get senior minutes."

Cresswell's seven senior appearances to date mean he is a relative novice compared to the likes of Harwood-Bellis and Colwill. The teenager will sit down with Jesse Marsch and Victor Orta upon the conclusion of this month's international camp to discuss his immediate future and whether a loan move may be viable in 2022/23.