Pablo Hernandez’s return will allow Tyler Roberts to provide competition to Patrick Bamford for the lone striker role, and the Spaniard could be in the squad to face Fulham next week, according to Graham Smyth of the Yorkshire Evening Post. Leeds United suffered a disappointing defeat at Cardiff City on Sunday as the Championship returned and Bamford, in particular, had a poor game.
Smyth was asked:
“Hey Graham, will Pablo be back for Saturday? Any news on Roberts?”
He replied:
“If Pablo Hernandez’s injury was as slight as Leeds were suggesting and he returns to training on Wednesday as Marcelo Bielsa expected, then we might well see him involved on Saturday. I think he will be in the squad. Every finger in the city will be crossed for that. Roberts looked tired yesterday but didn’t appear to be carrying a knock to me. We’ll be speaking to Marcelo again later in the week for a full update on player availability.”
According to WhoScored.com, Bamford’s performance earned him a disappointing rating of 5.62/10 and Smyth made the comment regarding the competition for that spot during a recent Q&A session he held with some of the club’s supporters.
Smyth had previously suggested that Jean-Kevin Augustin was out of favour and after stating that the Frenchman is ‘clearly not fit enough to be considered as an option by Marcelo Bielsa’, Smyth suggested that when Hernandez returns from injury, Roberts won’t be required to play as part of the midfield, and therefore he can focus on pushing Bamford for the responsibility of leading the line.
TIF Thoughts…
Roberts played as part of the Leeds United midfield at the weekend but he was unable to have a strong influence on proceedings, earning a performance rating of 6.12/10 (via WhoScored.com). He managed just one attempt on goal, two dribbles and a pass success rate of 74% during the game at the Cardiff City Stadium.
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Hernandez was unavailable for the weekend, but Bielsa expects him to return to training this Wednesday (as per Leeds Live) ahead of the next fixture versus Fulham at Elland Road.
The Spaniard has proven to be an effective option for Bielsa’s men this season, contributing six goals and six assists from either an advanced midfield position or the right flank (as per Transfermarkt.co.uk). In our opinion, his return and the freeing-up of Roberts would certainly increase the competition for the forward position as well as provide the coach with another option up top given that Augustin isn’t currently ready to play.