By David Woods

9th Mar, 2020 | 4:25pm

Live from Oakwell: Poveda shines, one first-teamer gets drab 5/10 – Leeds U23 ratings v Barnsley

Live from Oakwell: Mark Smith

After a long couple of weeks, Leeds United Under-23s finally returned to action against Barnsley.

The young Whites have missed a couple of chances to close the ground on Nottingham Forest at the top of the table thanks to the weather.

On their return, Carlos Corberan named one of his strongest sides of the season with Tyler Roberts, Ezgjan Alioski and Barry Douglas all starting.

It was a first half absent of goalmouth action with one good chance per side – Mateusz Bogusz wasting a great chance for Leeds.

Leeds finally took the lead from substitute Bobby Kamwa who tapped home after great work down the right from Ian Poveda.

That was thrown away by Elia Caprile though, who gave away a penalty after a shocking touch to leave the game at 1-1.

Here are our MOT Leeds News player ratings from the draw…

Elia Caprile – 6
As usual, it was a quiet afternoon for the Italian who had little to nothing to deal with. Caprile commanded his box well and continued to vocally keep his defence on their toes. It can come crumbling down quickly though as the keeper gave away a penalty after a shocking touch.

Bryce Hosannah – 7
Played more centrally and didn’t have much defending to do, although he swept well behind his teammates. Hosannah is best going forward and he was slightly shackled in this formation.

Leif Davis – 7
A solid return from injury for the defender. Davis is very powerful and often eased passed his man both on and off the ball.

Pascal Struijk – 5
One word would be sloppy. The Dutchman gave away possession needlessly and often put his side on the back foot. Off the ball he was solid, but you need more than that to make it under Marcelo Bielsa.

Barry Douglas – 6
Douglas completing 90 minutes is an indication of where he stands at the Whites. The left back went about his business quietly but lost too many 50-50s for our liking when the ball was loose.

Oliver Casey – 5
Does not look one bit comfortable when playing in holding midfield. Casey often lost possession and was beaten with ease by his man one too many times. Corberan must consider dropping him deeper for him to excel.

Jamie Shackleton – 7
The midfielder was everywhere on the pitch and linked up well with Poveda down the right. He is a busy player naturally and that made it hard for Barnsley to keep track of him.

Ezgjan Alioski – 7
His usual busy self around the middle of the park, but as was the story for everyone else, he couldn’t find an end product. There aren’t many better than the winger at disrupting the opposition and Barnsley could hardly get going around him.

Ian Poveda – 7
It took the winger an hour to get into the game but he burst into life after the hour mark. Poveda was full of tricks and flair and Barnsley couldn’t handle him down the right. He connected well with Shackleton and assisted the Kamwa goal superbly.

Mateusz Bogusz – 6
Very hot and cold from the Pole. He can make it look very easy at times but can overplay – as his chance in the first half proved. Solid afternoon for the playmaker though both going forward and working back.

Tyler Roberts – 5
An unusual choice to give the Welshman a run out at Oakwell. On this basis though, Patrick Bamford has nothing to worry about, Roberts looked slow and didn’t press at the same intensity as he does in the first team – quiet.

In other Leeds United news, EFL to meet today for talks that could have huge impact on Leeds promotion run-in