Leeds United U21s continued their unbeaten start to the season against Tranmere Rovers on Tuesday evening, with Michael Skubala's side running out 5-3 winners in an enthralling Football League Trophy encounter under the Prenton Park lights.

Sitting top of the Premier League 2 Division 2 table after winning five and drawing one of their opening six fixtures of the 2022/23 campaign - scoring 24 goals and conceding eight - the U21s were in excellent form heading into the mid-week meeting.

And, despite falling behind to two Tranmere goals in the opening 20 minutes, a Sonny Perkins strike and a Joe Gelhardt brace turned the fixture on its head, although the hosts did level the scores in the dying stages of the first half.

However, an early second-half strike from Mateo Joseph and a fine finish from Cody Drameh saw the visitors take a deserved two-goal lead of their own, with the Whites hanging on for all three points despite Sam Greenwood's 69th-minute sending-off.

And, while the exceptional performance of Gelhardt will likely be one of the bigger talking points amongst the Elland Road faithful on Wednesday, there was undoubtedly another player who should be credited with a key role in the win - Darko Gyabi.

Indeed, having only joined Leeds from Manchester City in a £5m deal this summer, the 18-year-old midfielder has already turned in a number of impressive displays for the club's U21 side - with a first-team call-up now appearing just a matter of time.

And, the £2.7m-rated talent's performance against Tranmere will have done his first-team chances no damage at all, with the England U19 international - who Neil Harris dubbed an "exceptional" talent - putting in a show-running display in the heart of Skubala's midfield.

Indeed, over his 90 minutes on the pitch, the £3.4k-per-week teenager was a continuous creative force for Leeds, enjoying 57 touches of the ball, completing 78% of his attempted passes, finding his man with four of his five attempted long balls and playing two key passes.

The 18-year-old also played a pivotal role in two of the Whites' goals, winning possession back from a Tranmere throw before sliding Gelhardt in with a pin-point through ball for Leeds' equaliser, as well as playing Drameh in for his side's fifth of the night.

Furthermore, the former City starlet was also exceptionally strong in a defensive capacity, winning 10 of his 13 duels - a success rate of 77% - making four tackles, completing three clearances and drawing four fouls for his side - with some of these returns coming after the midfielder dropped into centre-back after Greenwood's red card.

These metrics saw Gyabi earn an extremely impressive SofaScore match rating of 7.3, while the Yorkshire Evening Post's Joe Donnohue also awarded the playmaker an eight in his own player ratings, with the journalist stating of the teenager's display: "Very good tonight. Tidy on the ball, especially playing forwards. Did a job at centre-back too."

As such, while the goals of Gelhardt, Perkins, Joseph and Drameh were vital in sealing all three points against Tranmere, it was the display of Gyabi in the middle of the park that was arguably the most impressive on Tuesday evening - with the Whites very much looking to have an extraordinary talent on their hands in the shape of the 18-year-old midfielder.