David Prutton: Leeds United would be worried if Eddie Nketiah was happy on the bench

Everyone knows how privileged I felt to grace the Elland Road pitch, and it has been great to see everyone come together to celebrate the centenary on what is a special 100th birthday.

It’s a phenomenal football club. The history, heritage and tradition is there for all to see and quite rightly there has been an outpouring of love and celebration.

It’s a wonderful reflection about how Leeds is valued by the fans, Lord knows they’ve been through thick and thin in recent times.

They’re now tantalisingly close to getting back to the top level of football where supporters believe they should be and concentration will be needed against Birmingham City.

You want to make sure that first and foremost the game is won, of course it would be nice if it was done in the style that we know they can achieve under Marcelo Bielsa.

We know that Leeds can turn it on and create chances, but this is the type of game that they need to be able to tick off in terms of getting through it and being clinical.

You’ve got to make sure you’re putting teams away, and hopefully this week the referee doesn’t deem anyone to be sent off!

If they can take care of business then you can allow the celebrations to carry on as long as they want on the back of three points which will hopefully get the club back on track.

Birmingham’s inconsistency so far will be the frustrating thing for Pep Clotet I’m sure and they’ll have to be at their very best, but they’ll also know that the expectation levels will be on Leeds.

I think Ben White has a job on his hands with Lukas Jutkiewicz and that should be a great battle.

We’ve seen White stand up to everything in his path so far this season and I fully expect him to meet that challenge head on.

Eddie Nketiah has obviously made some headlines this week with his hat-trick for England’s Under-21s side.

From a playing perspective he can only do what he has been by having an impact when asked, all you can do is show the manager your ability and then it’s up to Bielsa to chuck him in.

When you listen to Leeds fans there is an obvious clamour for Nketiah to be in the starting eleven.

He’s a player who has come from a Premier League side to the Championship and people might just assume he would start – but we all know it’s not as simple as that.

Bielsa has his quirks and his way of running a football club and Nketiah has had to get used to that.

I can understand the frustration because as a player who was brought in to score goals he’s held up his end of the bargain but hasn’t had the chance to show people what he can do over a sustained period.

Patrick Bamford has the responsibility as a senior striker to score the goals to help Leeds with the promotion push but it’s not as easy as we sometimes make out. Bielsa is showing patience with him, the fans have shown that too but whether they ever play as a two I don’t know.

It’s not really Bielsa’s way.

In regards to his comments if he was happy to be on the bench that wouldn’t make any sense. He could’ve done that back in London with Arsenal.

If things are said that could derail a dressing room then it’s a bit different but he’s just being honest with his feelings and there’s been nothing sinister in it.

It’s fairly obvious that any player would be frustrated if they’re going away and scoring goals for their country and then thinking they’re going back to being a bit part player at club level.

Forward thinking players like to be in and amongst it as much as possible, I’m sure his team-mates will have sympathy.

We know how quickly things can change in a season; a change in formation, a discipline issue or even an injury and he’ll get thrown straight in.

Then it is up to him to really back up what he’s saying by scoring the goals Leeds fans want to see.