By James Murray

26th Oct, 2023 | 7:40am

Sky Sports pundit blasts Patrick Bamford incident in Leeds United v Stoke City

Lee Hendrie has blasted Patrick Bamford following his missed penalty for Leeds United against Stoke City on Wednesday night (25 October).

Speaking on Sky Sports Main Event on Wednesday (09:35pm), the pundit said it was a “really poor” penalty from the 30-year-old forward in the second half.

He added that it was a “golden opportunity” for the Whites and that the English forward was trying to be “too clever” after he struck his effort over the bar in the 1-0 defeat at the bet365 Stadium.

“Well, I think this is his first touch,” said Hendrie. “I’ll tell you something, it’s a really poor penalty, isn’t it? He sends the goalkeeper the wrong way but he leaned back on the shot and that is a golden opportunity for Leeds gone begging – and he knows it as well.

“He’s tried to be too clever by putting it in the top corner or the roof of the net. It’s a really poor penalty.”

Shocking

It was a pretty shocking miss from Bamford as he was far too casual when he stepped up to take the penalty at a crucial point in the game.

There are question marks around whether the forward should have been the man to take the spot kick after only just coming onto the pitch a couple of minutes earlier.

But there is no real excuse for him as he failed to hit the target with his effort that went sailing high over the bar before Leeds conceded just minutes later.

The result could have been very different if Bamford had found the net, though, and now the Whites find themselves nine points behind second-placed Ipswich Town.

Although it’s just one game, you have to feel as though this could be a damaging night in the club’s bid to finish in the automatic promotion places this season.

In other Leeds United news, a BBC pundit has shared a “ridiculous” admission amid the club’s promotion hopes this season.