Here are the latest Leeds United morning headlines on Friday, April 1.
Bamford admission
Leeds United striker Patrick Bamford has admitted he shouldn’t have played the game against Wolves before the international break. Bamford is set to miss the next six weeks after aggravating a foot injury that has been plaguing him for a long time.
The 28-year-old had made his return against Aston Villa and Norwich City but revealed he knew before kick off at Molineux something wasn’t right. Speaking in an interview with Sky Sports, Bamford claimed that due to the importance he knows he has in the team, he ‘forced’ himself back too early.
He said: “I think I was trying to get through the pain and almost forced myself back a little bit to try and help the team. Without wanting to sound big-headed, I knew that I had a big role to play. I was eager to get back, but it was one of them where I knew eventually it was going to go and it was just a matter of time, really.
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“When I had the partial tear and found out about that, I had the injections and it was building it back up until, really, I was comfortable training and then I eased into matches - I played a little bit in the Villa and Norwich games. But when I came off at half-time [of the Norwich game] I was in a bit of pain, so I knew it wasn't quite right.
“Going into the Wolves game, if I was honest with myself, I should have said no [to playing]. But then they kept asking me if I wanted to play and I said 'yes. As soon as I started the warm-up [at Wolves], I knew. There were four actions where it started tearing and then the last one I knew something had happened.”
Gelhardt role
Leeds United manager Jesse Marsch says that forward Joe Gelhardt will have a ‘bigger role’ to play in the final eight games of the season. Gelhardt has been reduced to solely substitute appearances under Marsch and was unused in the win at Wolves due to a back issue.
Leeds’ first choice striker Patrick Bamford, though, is set for another spell on the sidelines, which could open the door for the 19-year-old. Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Marsch revealed his desire to give him more minutes in the coming weeks.
"Joffy [Joe Gelhardt] was a little bit injured in the Wolves game and wasn't at 100%," Marsch said of Elland Road's last-minute hero against Norwich City a week earlier. "Certainly, with me and with us in this process, we have to get him going more and more and more. So certainly he will play a much bigger role now going forward," the head coach added.
"We were considering him to start against Wolves," Marsch said, referencing 19-year-old Gelhardt. "And then the whole week he didn't train because - well, first he was going to play against Man U in the 23s match - and then we wanted to make [it the] intention for Wolves [for him to play] from the start or [to get] more minutes and then he just had this back spasm that prevented him a little bit from training."
Read more here.
Predicted line-up
Four games under Jesse Marsch at Leeds United have provided very few clues on how he likes to rotate his side, how he manages poor form or how he likes to change his approach for each opponent. Injuries have persisted, punching holes in Marsch’s line-ups and options at every turn, denying any kind of rhythm to settle into his selections.
A promising loss at Leicester City was followed by a dire evening with Aston Villa before two chaotic, imperfect wins ahead of the international break. United may have beaten Wolverhampton Wanderers a fortnight ago and a manager is normally loath to change a winning side, but that night’s squad was shot to bits by substitutions and began with one of the worst 45-minute spells of the season.
In short, it’s still proving tough to predict what Marsch is likely to do on Saturday at Elland Road. The returns to fitness of instrumental duo Liam Cooper and Kalvin Phillips only muddy the waters yet further.
Read Beren Cross’ predicted line-up here.
