Marcelo Bielsa compares Fulham dangerman to Leeds United's strike force as Craven Cottage clash awaits

Marcelo Bielsa has warned over the abilities of Fulham striker Aleksandar Mitrovic and has compared the Serbian international to his own Leeds United strike force.

The Whites travel to Craven Cottage in control of the final automatic promotion spot in the Championship table holding a 12 point advantage over their opponents who remain sixth ahead of kick-off.

Mitrovic has bagged 16 times this term for Scott Parker’s side - averaging a goal every 118 minutes of league action - while Bielsa’s preferred choice and counterpart Patrick Bamford has found the back of the net on nine occasions.

Eddie Nketiah is also an option for the Whites in the capital, with the Arsenal loanee scoring three goals from 13 substitute appearances since joining in the summer but has been has seen his role limited under the Argentine so far in West Yorkshire.

Bielsa, though, believes that all three players possess a great amount of quality and says that despite an eye-watering amount of analysis ahead of the showdown it could simply hinge on which striker plays better on the day.

“He’s a great forward,” Bielsa said of Fulham’s dangerman.

“(Patrick) Bamford also. They are goalscorers. They are very aggressive players. You have to take care of them.

“If you have to develop one centre forward, with the characteristics of all centre forwards in the league.

“You have a difference between the players who are big and don’t move a lot. Their are also more agile players, more technical, but they move more.

“Mitrovic, Nketiah and Bamford are a mix of both characteristics.

“Centre-backs are used to knowing how to face the different centre forwards. It’s difficult to find something they didn’t face in the past.

“But it’s not about how much you know about the opponent, it’s important to have the ability to face him and beat him.”