Leeds United boss Marcelo Bielsa plays down Patrick Bamford injury following Aston Villa absence

Marcelo Bielsa played down an injury to Patrick Bamford and said he had not yet ruled the striker out of Leeds United's Boxing Day clash with Blackburn Rovers after omitting him from a 3-2 win at Aston Villa.
Leeds United striker Patrick Bamford suffers injury scare.Leeds United striker Patrick Bamford suffers injury scare.
Leeds United striker Patrick Bamford suffers injury scare.

Bamford dropped out of the travelling squad for Sunday’s dramatic victory at Villa Park after suffering a fresh knee problem in training on Saturday.

The former Middlesbrough forward recently returned from a posterior ligament injury which sidelined him for three months in September, four weeks after his £7m arrival from the Riverside.

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He scored on his comeback in a 1-0 win at Bolton Wanderers last weekend but was sent for scans over the weekend having complained of more pain in his knee.

Leeds United striker Patrick Bamford suffers injury scare.Leeds United striker Patrick Bamford suffers injury scare.
Leeds United striker Patrick Bamford suffers injury scare.

Bielsa, however, revealed that the problem was unlikely to be serious and expects confirmation of Bamford’s condition to come in the next 24 hours.

“During a training session he jumped to head the ball but fell down and felt something in his knee,” Bielsa said. “We think it’s not a serious injury and we think he will come back a lot faster than from the previous one. In the next day we’ll know.”

Bamford is part of a huge catalogue of injuries at Elland Road this season but Bielsa coped with another clutch of absences to claim a valuable win at Villa Park and take Leeds back to the top of the Championship.

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Barry Douglas was forced to pull out of United’s starting line-up through illness during the warm-up and Bielsa confirmed that striker Tyler Roberts was also unavailable.

Asked what his injury situation was likely to be for Wednesday’s home clash with Blackburn, Bielsa said: “We’ll see how Patrick Bamford, Barry Douglas and Tyler Roberts are. They’re the three we couldn’t include.”