Leeds United chief salutes 'gigantic' Whites boost and outlines new 'weapon' plan

Head coach Marsch handed a debut to the club's most expensive attacker and signing of all time in Saturday's FA Cup fourth round clash at Accrington Stanley as France under-21s striker Georginio Rutter started and played 76 minutes of a 3-1 victory.

Marsch felt £28m record signing Rutter already looked dangerous in his very first game but the Whites boss was also left thrilled with a re-emerging "weapon" from within in the shape of a fit-again Patrick Bamford. Bamford has had to battle a series of injuries over the last 16 months but the 29-year-old striker had successful minor groin surgery in December and lined up at Accrington for his first start since October.

Sixty six minutes later, the Whites no 9 had chipped in with two assists as part of an all-action display in the centre-forward role flanked by Rutter and the returning Luis Sinisterra who himself was also bagging a first start in nearly three months.

Leeds then finished the game with a totally different front line as top scorer Rodrigo, Brenden Aaronson and youngster Sonny Perkins were introduced before the addition of fifth and final substitute and another young forward option in Mateo Joseph with one minute left.

Two more of Marsch's most exciting attacking options weren't even there with 21-year-old Dutch winger Crysencio Summerville completing the final stages of his recovery from injury and rapidly rising Italian international teenage star Willy Gnonto suspended. The options are so plentiful that Jack Harrison has been able to drop back into a deeper midfield role.

For Marsch, selecting a first choice front four will be quite the puzzle but it's a conundrum the American coach is relishing amid huge praise for the returning Bamford who the Leeds boss is now planning to get back to his best.

Bamford received a warm embrace from Marsch upon being taken off with 13 minutes left and Marsch beamed: "That was another big hug for him at the 75th minute because we finally got him physically to a point where he was exhausted because he puts so much into the match and he had to fight up there against some big centre backs.

"I thought the way he asserted himself at all moments within the match was exactly what we needed and I'm so happy to see him in good form. Certainly, it gives us more weapons. We have weapons now and that's fun for a manager to work with.”

Assessing the significance of what was Bamford's longest run out since the opening day of the season, Marsch reasoned: "I think it is a huge step for him. And even last week, he didn't quite feel ready to start. He trained hard this week in preparation for this and you could see that he looks like himself.

"Then the discussion was ‘okay, how long can we go’ and we said ‘let's check at half ‘and at half he felt great. This game had a lot of pauses because there were a lot of long balls and throw-ins and this kind of stuff so it didn't have the pace of what a Premier League match has. But 75 minutes for him at this point from what he's been through in the last year, I think is gigantic. It gives us a chance I think to really start to push Patrick and to be the player that we know he can be."