Leeds United early team news v Plymouth: Phil Hay shares Patrick Bamford injury update
Leeds United are waiting to hear whether Patrick Bamford and Sam Bryam will be fit to play against Plymouth on Saturday, according to Phil Hay.
Bamford, 30, suffered an injury in the pre-match warm-up at Swansea on Tuesday night (13 February) and had to be replaced by Joel Piroe in Daniel Farke’s starting line-up.
Byram, 30, wasn’t in the squad at Swansea and hasn’t started since being forced off injured 18 minutes into the win over Birmingham on 1 January.
The Athletic journalist Hay has revealed that Leeds are still unsure of their status ahead of the trip to Home Park to play Plymouth this weekend (17 February).
“It is the case that his squad’s in really good shape at the moment,” Hay said on The Square Ball Podcast on Friday (16 February, 16m05s).
“I know there’s the injury to Bamford and they’re also waiting to hear on Sam Byram but it is genuinely more of a challenge for [Farke] to decide who not to play over who to play.
“I think if you’re Swansea and you see Bamford disappear in the warm-up and then it’s Piroe who’s brought on and scores after 10 minutes, you kind of realise you’re outmatched.”
Will Patrick Bamford play against Plymouth?
It seems unlikely that Bamford will be ready to start against Plymouth this weekend.
He might be in the squad but Piroe’s goalscoring return to the starting line-up against his former club Swansea suggests Leeds are in safe hands with him up front and, with that, there’s no point in risking Bamford.
The former Chelsea centre-forward has been in superb form in recent weeks.
Before sitting out of the win in South Wales, he’s scored four goals and supplied one assist in six Championship games, including a winner against Norwich on 24 January.
Unfortunately, the one-time England international is prone to injuries, which is why he missed almost two months’ worth of action at the start of the Championship campaign.
Farke and the Leeds medical team have to manage him carefully and even if he is fit to play against Plymouth, he should still probably sit the game out or be left on the bench.
Leeds don’t want him to suffer a last-gasp setback that rules him out of the run-in.
In other Leeds United news, an update has emerged around a new contract for Farke at Elland Road
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