Gary Lineker opens up on the private advice he gave Leeds United's Patrick Bamford

Gary Lineker has opened up on the advice he gave Leeds United forward Patrick Bamford last season. Bamford has scored in four of his last six appearances under Daniel Farke, but prior to the turn of the year, he had been stuck in something of a lengthy rut.

The striker struggled for form over the first half of the campaign and that was a lasting legacy of a difficult season in the Premier League last time around, in which he failed to find consistency throughout. As such, in an effort to rediscover his spark, Bamford admitted on his podcast, 'My Mate's a Footballer', that he reached out to former England striker and now Match of the Day host Lineker for advice on the art of being a striker.

Now Lineker, speaking on his own podcast, the Rest is Football, has explained what the pair spoke about on the phone.

“A few months ago I got a direct message from Patrick saying that he 'heard you talking about making runs as strikers and how you can improve your game'," Lineker said. "He said 'I wondered if you could give me 10 or 20 minutes on the phone and give me some advice', so I said of course.

“We swapped numbers and he called me. We had 20 minutes talking about movement and gambling on attacking space. He seemed like a really good guy, really smart, wanting to learn.

“I said to him you are the first person who has ever asked me for advice at any time. I suppose people might be a bit too shy, but if social media had been around when I played which gives you the opportunity to contact players who have reached the top I think I would have done so.”

Bamford has managed to establish himself in Farke's preferred starting XI with his form over the last few weeks and he'll be looking to hit the back of the net once more when Leeds take on Bristol City on Friday night.