Leeds United v Southampton will grant moment of reflection for one unheralded academy graduate

Thank God for Leeds United Under 21s.

The Elland Road fixture against Southampton tomorrow night has become an oasis in the senior side's 29-day barren fixture landscape.

It might not be the real thing but it's as good as we're going to get until October 2 and will, at the very least, prevent a wholesale descent into the madness of cheering on one rain drop as it races another down the car windscreen.

It isn't just supporters crawling gratefully towards the only form of Leeds-related football in sight, it will come as a huge relief to the first team players being granted precious minutes as they come back from injuries.

Liam Cooper, Patrick Bamford, Luke Ayling and Junior Firpo being involved will doubtless add to a gate Leeds hope will surpass 20,000, but the most important outcome will be their surpassing of landmarks in their respective returns to match fitness.

This game comes at a good time for any player in need of the intensity that only a football match can give.

And for boss Michael Skubala, the presence of that quartet and the attendance figure will make this Premier League 2 second tier encounter one of the highest profile games of his coaching career, certainly at club level.

It will form as a proper introduction to Elland Road and what it's like to operate in front of a substantial crowd of Leeds fans, for the former England futsal head coach.

His predecessor, Mark Jackson, did not need one of those when he became 21s boss, because he was Leeds long before the job came along.

A Leeds lad and former player, 'Jacko' worked his way up through the academy ranks to take charge of the 23s, as they were then, during Marcelo Bielsa's regime.

What made that such a nice thing for all involved was that someone from outside the Argentine's 'iron circle' and someone who had the DNA of the club coursing through their veins, could be such an integral part of what Bielsa was doing at Thorp Arch.

The 21s is a crucial vehicle for developing talent in a more sustainable way than simply buying in talent and Pascal Struijk, currently doing more than just a job in an unnatural left-back role in the Premier League, is living proof.

He's also proof of the importance of a good Under 21s manager.

Jackson, by just about every account you can think to listen to, is the kind of coach who invests in young people, not just young players.

Nohan Kenneh speaks of his own ascent up the youth ranks at Thorp Arch, one that ran in parallel with Jackson's own trajectory, as a pleasure.

The youngster, now at Hibs, is one of many who feel gratitude towards the 44-year-old for his input over the years.

And as Skubala sends bright new signings Sonny Perkins and Darko Gyabi out onto the pitch on Friday night, it must be noted that Jackson did not have it easy with the 23s.

The workings of Bielsa's system and the small squad he ran required the very best of Jackson's players to be involved in what the seniors were doing during the week and to be substitutes on matchday.

That, in turn, removed them from Jackson's options in a difficult 2021/22 season that began to mirror the one the first team were enduring.

Jackson might have been grumbling on the inside but his outward demeanour, certainly in any environment where he represented the club, did not show it. Deference was always paid to the club's head coach in Jackson's interviews, which preached the positives of the process-over-results philosophy Leeds had to operate beneath the first team.

Side before self often extends well beyond the confines of the Elland Road dressing room.

So when, towards the end of that tricky campaign, he was bumped up to first team level, it delighted many at the club. It felt like a just reward and a big positive in a season so bereft of them.

Maintaining that spot in Jesse Marsch's staff after a summer round of external backroom recruitment was proof that Jackson was not simply making up the numbers as a token 'club man' and a source of Leeds cultural anecdotes from which the players could be inspired. He was not just a guide for Marsch in those tricky transition months before he got his head around the exact lay of the land at Thorp Arch.

It could quite easily have transpired, as it has done at many other clubs in the past, that a member of staff who predated the man in charge had to depart to make way for someone new. Jackson could quite easily have found himself back in charge of the 21s this summer, which might have been more bitter than sweet after a taste of the big time.

His position, as one who worked his way up from the youth squads to the Premier League, with responsibilities including set-piece work, is a very nice thing.

And he could be forgiven, on Friday night, when everyone else is getting their football fix, for having a little moment of reflection on how far he has come and what it took to get there.

The 23s, 21s or whatever they will be called next year, is not just where players get made.