Leeds United news as Patrick Bamford reveals injury…

Leeds United news as Patrick Bamford reveals injury concern for Chelsea clash

Here are the latest Leeds United morning headlines on Friday, 19 August.

Bamford’s Chelsea injury concern

Leeds United striker Patrick Bamford is expecting to miss the game with Chelsea this weekend due to a ‘slight groin injury’. Bamford limped off in the first half of Leeds’ 2-2 draw with Southampton last week and has not recovered in time to play against his former side.

The 28-year-old missed almost all of last season through injury and speaking on the Official Leeds United Podcast, Bamford believes that these minor setbacks are unfortunately going to be part and parcel of his return to full fitness.

He said: “I’m alright to be fair. I’ve got a slight groin injury so I’ll probably miss the Chelsea game but I think that’s just part and parcel of coming back.

“I barely played or trained last year, I reckon the amount of times I trained from when I first got injured to the end of the season was probably less than 10, actually with the team.

“It was basically like a whole year out so it’s just kind of getting used to it again. Until Saturday when I felt it, I was feeling alright.”

Adams on Roca

Balance and confidence in one another has been critical to Tyler Adams’s burgeoning relationship with Marc Roca at the heart of Leeds United’s midfield. Jesse Marsch’s double pivot has seen more change than any other part of his side and the two new boys have had to settle in quickly.

With Kalvin Phillips sold, Adam Forshaw knocked back by injury and Mateusz Klich deployed further forward, Adams and Roca have formed the de facto engine room at Elland Road. In a key part of the field, these two can often be the difference in transition between attack and defence for Leeds.

“We understand each other's strengths and weaknesses,” said Adams. “In [the] build-up, he's very calm on the ball. He's very good on the ball.

“I can give him the ball in tough situations and we feel the same, but defensively, I'm able to win a lot of the balls and do a lot of some of the dirty work. We feel like we have a really good balance to each other's games.”

Rodrigo striker

Dream starts do not get much better than Rodrigo’s opening two matches for Leeds United this season. The 31-year-old’s three goals put him on top of the Premier League's scoring charts and give him the ideal platform to jump-start his Whites career.

As talk of a new striker grows quieter and Patrick Bamford battles with fitness issues, Leeds need Rodrigo to be the player many thought they were signing in 2020. When Spain’s number nine arrived on the eve of the Premier League return, the assumption was he would be United’s next striker.

As it was, Marcelo Bielsa tended to use Rodrigo as the attacking midfielder behind Bamford. When the former Valencia man was used as a striker it did not always suit the team and so the experiments for line-ups without Bamford drifted to Daniel James and others.