Leeds United: Roofe is best played as a striker, admits Heckingbottom

Roofe has found time up front limited so far during his 29 appearances for the Whites this campaign with former boss Thomas Christiansen opting to use him on the left or right wing.

Despite being played out of his preferred position more often that not he has notched nine goals and two assists this season.

Heckingbottom though believes that the 25-year-old is best deployed up front with the United boss clear in his answer as to how he plans to use him once he's back from injury.

"I still go back to when I saw a lot of him at Oxford," said Heckingbottom.

"He was down the middle but with a bit more freedom to drift wide and drop in deeper. He can score goals so we want him in positions where he can really effect the game.

"There's two ways to look at it, versatility is good but you want people to become real experts in their craft in terms of the position and know the subtleties of that position.

"It's something that players get over time and you have to be careful that, while versatility is good you're not missing out on someone who could excel in any given position."

Roofe has been missing from the Whites match day squad due to injury in recent months but the Leeds boss revealed that he had now returned to training at Thorp Arch.

"We had him back last week but it was a bit too soon to involve him [against Bolton and Fulham]," added Heckingbottom.

"We wanted to make sure we got as much work into him as possible because what we hoped was initially a three week injury turned into a five or six one.

"It's important that we build him up so he can have an impact when he gets on the pitch because he wants to achieve and we want him to do well and score goals."