Different question for Leeds United star and problem with dual January need: David Prutton

The Whites still have their fair share of injuries, the highest profile one being Patrick Bamford again who missed the club's mid-season training camp in Spain last week following groin surgery in Munich. Patrick is now 29 years old but there is a longevity now of top level players with everything at their disposal.

The peak period of a player probably used to be around the 29 years old marker but you can probably elongate that now to around 31 years. Bamford's recent injuries might be worrying for Leeds fans but I'd be surprised if it was anything other than extremely frustrating and worrying from Patrick's point of view.

We are talking about a player here who has not had the background of what you would class as a stereotypical footballer because there have been questions and fingers pointed at Patrick for various reasons over recent periods. But he has answered every single question and critique emphatically and now this is one where the main protagonist is his body.

I'd like to think and hope that Leeds are using him and working him in the correct possible manner which I can't see why that wouldn't be given that he is an inherently, expensive asset for them and a valuable asset. And this will just be frustrating for him.

There are two sides of the coin and I can understand frustration from the fans. But I have always said that with regards to the players that are injured, as much as it annoys and frustrates fans, it's that times a hefty number to get anywhere near what the player feels.

I've yet to come across a player that is happy being injured and happy sitting out what is happening on a football pitch, especially when Patrick knows what that roar of adulation and that tidal wave of emotion feels like being Leeds United's no 9. He will just be desperate and gagging to get out there and do what footballers do which is constantly answer critics. I really do feel for him from that point of view because he is a professional and a very erudite and well rounded professional.

That's not to say that if you are not of the same kind of educational background as him that you can't adequately voice your feelings and emotions and your take on your position or that you feel it any less acutely. But I just feel for him because of the lad that I have come across and the player that I have seen in his pomp is absolutely the starting centre forward for Leeds. It's just about being able to use him in the right manner and getting through the season, which, as we've seen for a long period of time now, we haven't been able to see.

The January transfer window will also be here before we know it and I'd go along with the general consensus that another left back and striker option is what the club needs. I think even if you are that striker at the moment that is prone to being unavailable and fitness then you can understand the nature of the beast that Leeds would have to be looking.

But how much would you have to pay for a striker in January in the Premier League with regards to a club that needs goals? Good luck with the premium on that. God knows and you are relying on how well you are scouting the world footballing market. But I have no idea what you would pay for a player in that position at this period of time when you are a club needing a player to score goals pretty sharpish.

That then means that the selling club increases the premium on the transfer fee that we probably had in our heads. It would also be nice to get a specialist left back in.

Junior Firpo has got it in him but he needs both form and fitness to come to his aid as any footballer does. It's like talking about Rodrigo who is obviously a player that can score goals in the Premier League - as he has done again of late - but he needs to get a consistent volume of goals to justify that hefty price tag.

I'd look at a full back and centre forward in the January transfer window but God knows what the going rate for those top level players are. Leeds have two more friendlies before their return to action through Friday night's home clash against Real Sociedad and next Wednesday's hosting of Monaco but I think the games are more about performance rather than results.

The players that have been on the fringes also now have a great chance to show head coach Jesse Marsch what they have got for what will be a very, very busy reconvening of the season. But it's like anything in pre-season or mid season as it is now. Results and performances going hand in hand is obviously the perfect storm but if not then you want a team that is creating chances and who look relatively strong at the back.