Daniel Farke says Leeds man will have to be patient this season, ‘unbelievably happy’ to have him

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Daniel Farke says Patrick Bamford will have to be patient this season but is delighted to have him available for Leeds United again.

Farke was speaking in his pre-match press conference ahead of tomorrow night’s game with Stoke City, where he was asked about his usage of Bamford so far this season.

Bamford was absent for the first eight matches of the campaign under Farke after picking up a hamstring injury in the final pre-season friendly against Hearts in July.

Since returning, Bamford has been eased back into the action with four appearances from the bench as Farke looks to manage him carefully to avoid him picking up another injury.

That said, Bamford’s return to fitness has coincided with an excellent run of form for both Georginio Rutter and Joel Piroe in attack, who, at the moment, are undroppable.

Farke says Bamford will need to be patient

Farke says with both Rutter and Piroe coping well with the current workload, Bamford will have to be patient for his chance, but is delighted to have someone of his track record available again.

He said: “Yes definitely because Georgi and Joel had the advantage that they had a pre-season. Georgi is always full of energy and he copes really well with the load. He’s in a good rhythm which also helps. In international breaks we can calm down the load with him.

“With Joel, he had a proper pre-season, played the first games with Swansea and is in a good shape, copes with the load well. Patrick was out for eight weeks, has an injury CV.

“We have to be careful, but we are unbelievably happy to have Patrick back. I am happy we have a proven goal scorer at this level with Patrick Bamford back.”

Bamford a great bench option for Leeds

On current form, there is no way Bamford should ever be starting ahead of either Rutter or Piroe due to how well they complement each other as a partnership.

Piroe’s quality in front of goal enables Rutter to drop deep, run with the ball and be creative, attributes which aren’t really replaceable with Bamford.

That said, there is no doubt Bamford is an excellent option to have off the bench and he will definitely be needed at points over the course of the season.