Leeds boss Javi Gracia and his players have rallied behind Patrick Bamford after his glaring late miss in Tuesday night’s 1-1 draw against relegation rivals Leicester.
Bamford steered the ball wide at the back post from two yards out following a corner in the closing moments and Leeds had to settle for a point in their fight for survival.
Leicester substitute Jamie Vardy cancelled out Luis Sinisterra’s first-half header with his first Premier League goal since October to rescue his side a crucial point.
Gracia said Bamford had been in an offside position when scooping his late chance off target and felt that Marc Roca had spurned Leeds’ best chance to snatch victory when his header from an earlier corner was saved by Daniel Iversen before being hacked clear.
The Leeds head coach said: “I like to be honest with you. That (Bamford) chance is coming from offside position.
“Patrick’s chance in my opinion, is offside position. For me, the clearest chance is in that moment was the corner kick and Marc Roca in a good header.
“It was for me the chance to get a better result in that moment. We tried, but it was late.”
Jack Harrison, who assisted Sinisterra’s first-half opener with an excellent cross, has backed Bamford to bounce quickly back.
“It happens in football. This is part of the game,” Harrison told LUTV. “It wasn’t just him, there were maybe some other people that might have had chances here and there and things we could have avoided so there’s always things we can work on.
“It happens to the best of the players in the world. I know him as a person, he is going to be looking forward to redeeming himself on Sunday and getting another goal back so we are all behind him.”
The shared point at Elland Road did little to ease the survival chances of either side. Leeds remain 16th and Leicester 17th, two and one point above the drop zone respectively having played a game more than the bottom three clubs.
Foxes boss Dean Smith was the happier of the two managers after collecting four points from his first three games in charge since replacing Brendan Rodgers.
Smith was delighted for Vardy after he ended his goal drought, but faces an anxious wait to learn the full extent of an injury sustained by fellow striker Kelechi Iheanacho in the build-up to Leicester’s equaliser
“He’s pulled up with his groin,” Smith said. “Well, I say pulled up, he kept going and played it through to Madders (James Maddison). It didn’t look great and we’ll have it scanned (on Wednesday).”
Smith added: “In the end, I feel a tad disappointed we haven’t gone away with all three points, but also know we could have lost it with the set-piece efforts they had.”
