Ex-Leeds United hero on frustration of unique Whites star and 'painful' Premier League tactic

Patrick Bamford is unique for Leeds United, in that we haven't got a like-for-like swap.

We found that out last season, in such costly fashion, and then we are reminded every time he comes on the pitch and does something slightly different, that others don't.

Bamford has experience, a confident Bamford scores goals and we need to get him fit and raring to go as soon as we can.

It was no surprise that when he came on against Aston Villa he could have scored with that chance he made for himself in the left channel, something only he does for us. He makes things happen.

For any player this run of niggles and knocks he has had would be difficult, and for Bamford it must be tough not being able to start, score goals and of course he's seeing what was once a big prize, the World Cup in November, drifting away.

I've been there myself and the worst thing is feeling like a spare part, not being able to get out and help your team-mates and your club, let alone looking further afield to international football.

Hopefully he can turn all his frustration into aggression and goals. All he can do is get himself in shape to get out there and show his best and that's definitely ahead of him this season.

For Joe Gelhardt, who was left out against Villa, and others, it's now a case of being part of a stronger squad and a stronger bench and that competition has to be a good thing.

Willy Gnonto was on the bench, which was good to see and as an Italian international it would be hard to believe if he couldn't get into the matchday squad, but I was still pleased to see Crysencio Summerville coming on.

Every cameo appearance he's looked better and better and I did wonder if his opportunities would lessen due to Gnonto's arrival, yet he got on in the 0-0 draw.

Gelhardt, like Summerville, will have to exercise patience and then when they get chances, whenever they come, they must grab it in both hands.

Before the game against Villa we were looking at it as a chance for three points and a draw would have been disappointing.

We went into it with a strong home record, against a team who will be in and around us in the league.

But the way it panned out, playing most of the second half with 10 men, it should be considered as a point gained and we can be partly satisfied because we might well have got nothing after Luis Sinisterra was sent off.

What was interesting with this game was how clearly it was just a continuation of the game in pre-season out in Australia because that was a niggly, feisty little affair and it started in exactly the same way.

What Steven Gerrard and Gary McAllister certainly didn't want was for the Elland Road fans and players to build up a head of speed or momentum with a quick start so they punctuated the game with painful bits of time wasting, which were plain for all to see.

It's just frustrating as a tactic, but the referee allowed it to be used to the nth degree. What was also frustrating, watching never mind playing, was the consistency of Stuart Attwell's decisions, it was all over the place. Something that looked to be just a foul became a yellow card and then suddenly two or three minutes later the same foul, committed by the opposition, wasn't. A lot of it didn't make sense and that exacerbated how everyone was playing, with the stop-start nature of the game. It wasn't pretty.

What we have to look at is how we deal with that frustration. Jesse Marsch has admitted he has maybe pushed the envelope too far and he's learning from that, and for anyone new to the Premier League like a lot of our players, it will take a little while.

Teams will come to Elland Road and play in certain ways, they want to give themselves the best chance, and we have to work out a way of bypassing that, learning from it, improving and getting the results that we want.

Different problems need their different solutions, and I think we're going to have to come across a solution for what will be happening this season at Elland Road.

Away from home it's a little different of course.

It was important for everyone, especially the young lads, that Liam Cooper returned against Aston Villa. It's great from a leadership point of view, and of course he helped us to a clean sheet. We maybe got a little fortunate but we also had to dig in, and we did.

The last away performance, at Brentford, was extremely poor, there were plenty of mistakes and what we'll have to do at Crystal Palace is replicate that defensive effort that kept out Villa.

We've had ugly games down there previously and we'll need to show grit and determination defensively, while adding the ability we've got in the final third.

What this game will call for is an all-round performance that gets off on the right foot.