Relief over Pablo Hernandez; Patrick Bamford still improving; Whites eyes on Wednesday night at St Andrew's - Leeds United Talking Points

The perfect response and more to come from Patrick Bamford

Whites head coach Marcelo Bielsa was always going to be left with a diffcult decision to make but a rather welcome headache once top scorer Kemar Roofe returned from nearly two months out with a knee injury.

Back fit, Roofe had to make do with a place on the bench for Saturday's clash at Birmingham City as Bielsa again fielded £7m summer signing Patrick Bamford in the lone striker role.

United were not great at St Andrew's but Bamford squandered two gilt-edged chances in either half before being substituted for Roofe in the 70th minute and had either of those chances gone in the outcome of the game probably would have been different.

That made it four games in a row without a goal for Bamford but Whites head coach Marcelo Bielsa then praised Bamford's personality and character in his post-match press conference so it always seemed likely that a very loyal Bielsa would keep Bamford in the lone striker role for Tuesday night's clash at Preston.

As it was, Bielsa's loyalty was again illustrated as he named a totally unchanged side and Bamford in particular repaid that faith in the ultimate style with probably his best performance yet in a Leeds shirt and a match-winning brace.

His double also acted as the perfect reply to the handful of fans who Bamford said were sarcastically jeering him as he hit the back of the net in shooting practice during the warm up.

There is no denying that Bamford endured a massively frustrating afternoon at Birmingham but the striker has now scored nine goals in 20 appearances this term with two of those off the bench and that's a respectable return for a forward who has missed nearly four months of the season with two separate knee injuries.

Bamford will have been as disappointed as anyone to squander his two glorious chances at Birmingham but in the aftermath of his Preston double the striker insisted that he knew the goals would arrive if he continued to shoot.

Four days after having three attempts at goal and one on target at St Andrew's, Bamford had six attempts on goal at Deepdale, four of which were on target with two hitting the back of the net.

Both were corking goals in their own right with Bamford's rocket of a shot in the 62nd minute giving Declan Rudd no chance and his precise header from a Mateusz Klich cross brilliantly taken with 14 minutes left.

The forward will only wish he had netted the hat-trick which his performance deserved with the striker released one on one in the final minute but allowing Ben Davies to get back and make a last ditch-tackle.

Yet Bamford had already done more than enough to send Preston packing and it was interesting afterwards to hear the striker insist that he had been told it could take up to four months upon returning to the side for his knee to feel normal again.

We are still not yet at four months since Bamford returned in the 1-0 win at Bolton on December 15 and even that return was then disrupted by another knee injury picked up in training that kept him out for another six weeks.

All strikers have frustrating days and Saturday at Birmingham was a hugely frustrating one for Bamford but fair play to the forward for providing the perfect response and there was so much more to his game than just his goals, not least his work rate and the 25-year-old's much improved strength in holding up the ball.

With Bamford back in the groove and with more improvement still yet to come, Leeds United and their £7m striker are very much back in business with Roofe still waiting in the wings.

More shots more goals

One of the most disappointing aspects of Saturday's loss at Birmingham was the fact that Leeds managed just nine shots on goal despite having 73 per cent of possession with only one of those attempts on target when Bamford's header was brilliantly saved by Lee Camp.

Four days later, it appeared noticeable how many times United's players pulled the trigger and even at half-time the Whites had clocked up 11 attempts at goal compared to Preston's one.

By the end of the night, United's tally had increased to 22 shots on goal with seven on target compared to Preston's five attempts but none on site.

Much more like it and proof that dominating possession can often mean little with Leeds still on top in that department with 59 per cent of the ball but considerably less so than at Birmingham.

Preston naturally found the going extremely difficult once Ben Pearson was shown a straight red card for a professional foul on Bamford - a sending off all day long - but Leeds looked well on top in any case and it would have been a surprise had Bielsa's men not taken all three points even against the full complement of Preston players such was their dominance beforehand.

Relief over Pablo Hernandez

There were naturally huge concerns when Spanish playmaker Hernandez left Saturday's loss at St Andrew's with his left foot in a protective boot over an ankle issue, raising doubts about the 33-year-old's participation at Deepdale.

Bielsa said on Monday that Hernandez would not feature if there was any risk at all to making the problem worse yet Hernandez lined up from the off as Bielsa incredibly selected the same outfield ten players for the ninth game in a row.

Hernandez had a bit of a stinker at Birmingham - a rare off day - but when the creative Spaniard plays well so too do Leeds.

Playing on the right flank, Hernandez posted a brilliant passing completion rate of 92 per cent and Bielsa admitted afterwards that he was still unsure as to the Spaniard's condition even before United's warm up.

But Hernandez looked good in that and even better in the game itself and the playmaker is clearly crucial to United's run in.

It should be added that Bamford and Hernandez were not alone in excelling at Deepdale and every Whites player posted a decent performance with Mateusz Klich also looking particularly impressive in midfield along with Tyler Roberts who is really growing into the no 10 role.

All this with Izzy Brown, the injured Barry Douglas and even young Jack Clarke failing to make the bench with Jordan Stevens getting the nod among the substitutes instead.

All Blues aren't we?

It's still impossible to predict how many points are going to be needed to finish second and for all the jubilation associated with Tuesday night's win at Preston, it may well prove that the damage was done at Birmingham when United's automatic promotion destiny fell back out of their own hands.

But any sort of slip up from Sheffield United will put Leeds back in pole position to bag the second automatic promotion spot and Garry Monk's Birmingham City will suddenly find themselves with a lot more supporters than is usually the case come this evening's Championship clash against the Blades at St Andrew's which Chris Wilder's men approach two points behind the Whites but with six games left as opposed to Leeds' five.

Leeds fans up and down the country and around the world will be yelling on Monk's Blues in what looks a key game in the automatic promotion race given Sheffield United's run in.

No game in the Championship is easy but the Blades could certainly be looking at a dicier run-in on paper than Birmingham, Hull City and Stoke City away plus home clashes against Millwall, Nottingham Forest and Ipswich Town.

Compare that to Leeds' final games of home clashes against Sheffield Wednesday, Wigan Athletic and Aston Villa plus away days at Brentford and Ipswich.

On paper, Leeds have the harder looking run in but even if amassing five more wins from here on in, somewhere along the lines, Leeds need the Blades to drop points.

Even a draw will do and with Monk's men having home advantage and still needing points to ensure survival, there is at least some sort of optimism that those points could be dropped tonight, especially with the pressure now firmly back on Chris Wilder's side.

An epic two-horse race for second which would be heartbreaking to see Leeds miss out on.