Leeds United manager Garry Monk has insisted that his squad have what it takes to compete in the Championship.

With an average player age of 24 years 175 days, Leeds have one of the youngest sides in the second division and have got their campaign off to the worst possible start with back-to-back defeats to Queens Park Rangers and Birmingham City.

After Saturday's home defeat to the Blues, a furious Monk hit out at his players' "soft" mentality, but refused to backtrack from his comments in a press conference on Monday.

"After games and in those situations you are frustrated, everyone is – the players as much as myself," he told the Yorkshire Evening Post. "But I am very honest with them, I am very open and nothing gets said that I don't tell them myself. I am here to look after them, I am here to give them everything and every opportunity to perform and give them my experience.

"But I am not here to protect every two minutes. This is the real world we are living in and that's what I want my team to be – in the real world and in the reality of everything and these young players need to go through that. They have my full support, confidence and trust, all of them and you can ask any of them that – they receive that on a daily basis. But we are not here to wrap anyone up in cotton wool, we are here to make these guys men and make them grow up very quickly and become the players that I believe they can become.

"I think the frustrating thing from the two games that we have had is that at this moment in time, because they are a young group, they don't quite see what I see in terms of how good they can be. This group can be so competitive and so talented. If we just give it a little bit more leadership from within, a little bit more experience to help these young players, I think we will see a really competitive team. That's what we are working towards and I think you will see that in the coming weeks."

Leeds welcome Fulham, who by contrast have made the perfect start to the season, to Elland Road this evening.