Patrick Bamford has been given some hope after being told he could miss the rest of the season with a foot injury.
Leeds claimed on Sunday night that Bamford would need at least six weeks’ rest after scans revealed he had ruptured a ligament in his foot called the plantar fascia. That timescale means he would miss virtually all of the remainder of the campaign and may not play again this season.
Two days on and the outlook is slightly less gloomy. Rodrigo and Pascal Struijk suffered similar injuries and the Spain striker was able to return after four to five weeks’ rest. Bamford could be back in action by early to mid-May if his rest period is the same length, giving him the chance of featuring in Leeds’ final three games against Arsenal on May 7, Brighton on May 15 and Brentford on May 22.
Bamford would be delighted to play again before the end of the season and he has had a miserable campaign because of injuries. His problems started on September 17 when he hurt his ankle against Newcastle at St James’ Park.
He returned against Brentford on December 5, only to damage his hamstring celebrating his late equaliser. Bamford, 28, broke down twice during his rehabilitation, partly because former boss Marcelo Bielsa pushed him too hard during his comeback to get him back to peak fitness.
He finally returned against Norwich this month, only to rupture his plantar fascia after 23 minutes of his next appearance at Wolves in Leeds’ last game, their dramatic 3-2 comeback win. Bamford has managed just 10 appearances in total this season, netting two goals, and the campaign has been a nightmare after he top scored with 17 Premier League goals last time.
His injury hell has also wrecked his chances of going to the Qatar World Cup with England and he has completely fallen down the pecking order of Gareth Southgate’s strikers. It all looked so different when he was named in his first England cap and made his Three Lions debut against Andorra in September.
Then he would have dreamt he could push on and fulfil his ambition of playing in a World Cup with England. That has gone and now his focus is on simply playing again for Leeds this season. Leeds medical chief confirmed the latest bad news about Bamford in a statement on Sunday night. Price said: “As all of the stats show, Patrick has put his body on the line for Leeds United for a number of seasons.
“He has played with a plantar fascia injury for the last 12 months and despite treatment and a prolonged period of rehabilitation, the injury has progressed from a partial tear to a full rupture.
“As all sports medics know, injuries to the plantar fascia are notoriously difficult to manage, but all concerned are confident that he will make a full recovery from this injury in good time. What he needs is a period of rest and rehabilitation to allow his body to fully recover.”
