Leeds United are sweating on the fitness of Patrick Bamford after he was substituted with an injury just a third of the way through the Under-23s’ clash against Bristol City today (Friday).
The £7million summer signing was named as an over-age player by the youth team as manager Carlos Corberan handed shock starts to four first-team players for the clash at Elland Road this afternoon.
Bamford scored the first of Leeds’ three goals as the rampant home side flew into an early 3-0 lead but he left the pitch at the half-hour mark and hobbled down the tunnel after receiving treatment for what appeared to be a knee injury.
? | Jamal Blackman, Lewis Baker, Jack Harrison and Patrick Bamford start for the #LUFC U23s today. Watch the game live on the Leeds United app from 3pm pic.twitter.com/uFyYxXyzQK
— Leeds United (@LUFC) September 7, 2018
OPINION
Given how gingerly he walked off the pitch after sustaining a knock to his knee as Leeds blew Bristol City apart at Elland Road, Marcelo Bielsa and his staff, as well as the entire United fan base, will wait anxiously for an update on his condition. Bamford is yet to start a league match since joining Leeds in the summer, as he has been forced to play second fiddle to in-form spearhead Kemar Roofe. But he has done enough in his seven appearances, only two of which have been starts, in the League Cup, to show he can be a major threat to defences when he is fit and firing. Bamford certainly looked a cut above in the early exchanges at Elland Road today, putting his side ahead with an emphatic 10th-minute finish after outstanding work on the right flank by Jack Clarke. With an intense fixture schedule after the international break, it is vital for Leeds that the 25-year-old’ s injury is not a serious one.