Leeds United striker Patrick Bamford hits out at Sheffield United Elland Road celebrations

Patrick Bamford claimed Sheffield United had celebrated “as if they already think they’re up” and warned the Bramall Lane club that the top of the Championship was still wide open after their 1-0 victory over Leeds United.
Leeds United striker Patrick Bamford.Leeds United striker Patrick Bamford.
Leeds United striker Patrick Bamford.

The Blades took control of the division’s second automatic promotion place by edging a high-pressure derby at Elland Road and dropping Leeds into third place as the season entered its last international break.

Chris Basham punished an error by Liam Cooper to convert a 71st-minute winner and render meaningless long stretches of Leeds pressure and chances created by Marcelo Bielsa’s players.

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The final whistle provoked big celebrations in the away end and amongst Chris Wilder’s squad but the Yorkshire clubs are separated by a single point with eight matches to go. Bamford insisted Leeds would sweep the result “under the map” and fight back during the run-in.

“Hearing them (fans) and hearing the Sheffield United boys, it was as if they already think they’re up,” Bamford said. “It’s eight games to go and there’s still a lot of points to play for. Nothing’s written in stone yet.

“If someone puts together eight straight wins then fair enough, they deserve to go up. But this game hasn’t decided the promotion race. It’s given Sheffield a little edge. For us we’ve got to just focus on the next game and forget about this because we can’t really criticise the performance too much.

“The team’s been good at bouncing back from defeat and the manager’s very clever, making sure we don’t put too much pressure on ourselves but also that we stay focussed. We brush this game under the mat and we go again.”

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Saturday’s televised clash at Elland Road was given a big build-up and Leeds recorded their highest crowd of the season with an attendance of 37,004.

Bamford was amongst the players who missed big opportunities and United’s best effort - a shot from Tyler Roberts - struck a post on the hour. Bielsa’s frustration was compounded when his goalkeeper, Kiko Casilla, was sent off in injury-time for a professional foul on Billy Sharp.

Norwich City have stretched four points clear at the top of the division and the pressure on Leeds is mounting with Bielsa attempting to end the club’s 15-year run outside the Premier League.

But Bamford said: “Before the game everyone was building it up as a big game, second versus third, the cameras here. Everyone focused on it as if it was the decider but there’s eight games left.

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“If we’d have won then we’d still have had to win the rest of our games so for us it doesn’t really change anything. The gap’s not massive. It’s tight.

“Having been up there all season we’ve dealt with the pressure pretty well. Now the pressure, I think, will turn on Norwich and Sheffield United.

“Norwich have been handling it but for Sheffield United it’s the first time they’ve been in this position. It’ll be interesting to see how they cope with it: no longer being the underdogs and being in pole position.”

Sheffield United are on a run of six wins in seven matches since allowing a three-goal lead to slip in a 3-3 draw at Aston Villa last month and goalscorer Basham played down the suggestion that the Blades might be affected by tension.

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“The most we felt squeaky-bum time was at Aston Villa,” Basham said, “but the video we got shown of it has really set us back on our way.

“I think the situation has actually helped us to spread our wings. There's no heavy shirts in there, as the gaffer might say, and it (the draw at Villa) showed us how to see out a game.”