Leeds United defender Aidan White has returned from his loan spell at Oldham determined to press his claims for regular first-team football next season.

The 19-year-old, who went to school in Menston, made his Leeds debut in August 2008 but has made only 27 first-team appearances for the club after a series of injuries hindered his progress.

He went to Boundary Park in November on an initial month’s loan and, after returning to Leeds for a month, he returned to Oldham for the rest of the season, gaining valuable experience and adding goal-scoring to his CV.

White said: “I have definitely benefited from my time at Oldham. Hopefully the experience will help me to kick on at Leeds. I won a regular place at Oldham and that is what I intend to do at Leeds.

“When I first broke into the Leeds team I suffered from cramp towards the end of games and then there were injury setbacks which held me back. The manager (Simon Grayson) signed some new players and told me to get some more experience by going out on loan.”

White is now able to get through games without those bouts of cramp and says: “When you are playing seven games or so on the trot your legs don’t ache as much and you learn what it takes for your body to cope with being a footballer.

“I scored a few goals for Oldham, where Paul Dickov likes his players to practice shooting because he was a striker. He taught me a few things and I can’t thank him enough. It would be nice to bring a few goals with me to Leeds.

“I am already looking forward to pre-season. It is a fresh start, I want to show what I am capable of and hope to be more involved.”