Patrick Bamford misses Leeds United v Blackburn due to illness
Patrick Bamford was ruled out of the Leeds United clash with Blackburn on Saturday lunchtime due to illness, reports Adam Pope.
Writing on his personal Twitter account (9 December), the BBC Sport journalist reports that the striker was under the weather and therefore left out of the squad entirely for the trip in Lancashire.
Joe Gelhardt and Mateo Joseph were named on the bench in his absence, while Georginio Rutter continued as the starting striker with Joe Piroe starting in the number ten role behind him.
“Told Bamford is ill,” he wrote
Phew
Well, at least it’s not another injury blow because that would have been a nightmare for Bamford.
The experienced striker has had to come to terms with being a bench player this season, and he’s struggled to really make an impact for the most part.
He missed the start of the season with an issue picked up in pre-season, and injuries have been a plague on his career for most of his time at Elland Road.
When he is fully fit and firing though we know how much of an asset he can be to the team, so knowing that he will likely be back available sooner rather than later is certainly a positive thing.
With that said, this gives Gelhardt and Joseph an opportunity to stake a claim themselves for the games coming up with such a hectic schedule and healthy competition is never a bad thing for a team with ambition.
In other Leeds news, striker nowhere to be seen as Djed Spence decision made for starting XI v Blackburn.