Last Saturday, Leeds United U23s manager Mark Jackson saw Joe Gelhardt take to the field, leaving quite the impression on his home debut at Elland Road.
The England U21 youngster won a decisive penalty which saw the Whites salvage a last-gasp draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers, which followed 14 months or arduous work in the under-23 setup.
Then, on Tuesday evening another of Jackson's U23s took his first steps as a senior Leeds player; Cody Drameh made a full debut in the Carabao Cup defeat to Arsenal.
And so, to Friday night at Elland Road where the 23s took on Arsenal's development squad, littered with youth internationals aplenty - another opportunity for the talented youngsters to showcase the benefits of this academy's highly-regarded coaching.
In the end, the young Whites were downed 4-2 having gone in front twice during the first half.
Pre-planned half-time withdrawals for Charlie Cresswell and Crysencio Summerville took considerable sting out of Leeds' game, which - coupled with two early second half goals for the visitors - set Leeds on the way to another frustrating defeat.
Following the game though, Jackson spoke to LeedsLive, commending his No. 9's performance in difficult circumstances.
Jackson revealed he had spoken to 17-year-old Max Dean prior to the game in an attempt to motivate the teenager who has shown how bright he can be during his time with the U23 squad.
"We were pleased with Max today, I thought he had more of an influence on today's game," Jackson said.
"I thought him and Sam [Greenwood] were a threat when they worked as a pair up top. I thought they complemented each other well.
"I spoke to Max before the game. When he first came to the club, he had a real intensity about his play, really aggressive style in how he pressed and how he competed - we have chats with the players all the time and there's been stages where we think that's sort of dipped off a little bit in recent games.
"We work with players closely all the time to develop the game and speak about where they are and where they need to get better.
"We've had a few chats recently with Max, and particularly before the game, I said 'listen, you need to try and get back to those moments when you were playing in the 23s last year'.
"I thought he took that conversation well and he took it on board today and he had a much more positive performance," Jackson finished.
Dean scored Leeds' second goal on the night, starting a counter-attack inside the centre-circle before darting across Arsenal's defensive structure to latch onto a Lewis Bate through ball.
Then, in the second half, Dean saw an attempt cleared off the line by goalkeeper Karl Hein whilst also striking the frame of the goal courtesy of some excellent centre-forward play on the edge of the penalty area.
With Joe Gelhardt's promotion to first-team affairs in recent weeks, Dean can be expected to deputise for the young striker more and more often.
His display at home to Arsenal - regardless of the result - proves there is reason to be pleased with the continued progress of the under-23 setup at Leeds, in what has been a positive week in terms of achieving the academy's long-term goals.
