Fit-again Leeds United forward says fond farewell with Elland Road future to be assessed

The Championship outfit did have an option in place to make Roberts a permanent signing after the season-long loan stint, but injuries once again disrupted the attacker’s progress and restricted him to just 14 league starts. Roberts missed two large chunks of what was ultimately a disappointing campaign for Rangers and in March returned to Thorp Arch for treatment and rehabilitation for injury that kept him out of 16 games.

Earlier in the season Roberts missed out on the Wales World Cup squad having sat out six club games immediately prior to the tournament in Qatar. Speaking to BBC Sport in January, Roberts admitted it was tough to take.

"I had a little ongoing injury in my calf, and tried to give it as long as possible before it started getting to the stage of, 'I want to be playing again'," he said.

"I felt like I was ready to play so I had a talk with the manager, which was Michael Beale at the time, and we decided it'd be ok. It was going fine and then the injury happened again. And then from then on, I had the feeling that it'd be off for me which was really hard at the time because of the shock of it all. But me and Rob Page had a chat just a couple of weeks before the tournament and he said he thinks it's just too tight. They spoke to the physios and they decided I wasn't going to be ready in time which was hard to take. It was really tough for me and it's been difficult to move on from, but the best thing is that I've come back and gotten back into the [QPR] team."

QPR managed to avoid relegation to League One, finishing the season six points above the drop zone, but in an Instagram post Roberts in which he thanked the loan club, he admitted it was not the season he or they were expecting. He leaves after 21 appearances in total, scoring four goals along the way.

"Although our time working together did not work out the way both sides wanted and we went through a lot of lows this season, I want to thank you for the love and support shown throughout,” he said.

"I always worked as hard as possible to be fit and helping the team out, we still had some great memories together and that will stay with me. I wish the club nothing but success in the future.”

Fellow loanees Lewis Bate and Charlie Cresswell have returned to Leeds’ Thorp Arch training base after their own seasons were curtailed prematurely by injuries, but fit-again Roberts is now done for the season and has been given a fitness programme to work on as he prepares for a potential return to the Wales squad for their June internationals.

Rob Page’s men will take on Armenia and Turkey in EURO qualifying games next month and 24-year-old Roberts will hope for his first national team action since the Nations League defeat by Belgium last September, when he came off the bench late on. As for his Leeds United future, Roberts has another year remaining on his contract and come the summer will be one of a number of players who will be assessed for next season. The club’s Premier League status remains up in the air, making it almost impossible to predict who will be fighting for a place in the squad come the start of the 2023/24 campaign.