Luke Ayling says Leeds United star is ‘unbelievable’ after Daniel Farke leapt to his defence last week

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Leeds United have just signed Josuha Guilavogui to cope with the lack of options in the defensive areas of the pitch but in attack, Daniel Farke’s side is awash with a plethora of quality players.

Guilavogui comes in to cover the injuries of Ethan Ampadu and Ilia Gruev in the middle of the park. But his ability to play in defence also provides some much-needed cover for Joe Rodon and Pascal Struijk.

But in the attacking areas of the pitch, Leeds are not lacking in cover. Up top, Farke has four players to choose from with Joel Piroe currently first choice, while Mateo Joseph was starting but has been axed.

Behind those duo, are Patrick Bamford and Joe Gelhardt. One-time England man Bamford is yet to start a single game in the Championship this season, and Carlton Palmer urged Leeds to sell Bamford in January.

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Luke Ayling praises ‘unbelievable’ Leeds man Patrick Bamford

Middlesbrough defender and Elland Road icon Luke Ayling was a guest on My Mate’s A Footballer pod this week, alongside comedian Joe Wilkinson and current Leeds striker Bamford. He praised Bamford.

Despite his lack of game time and seeming inability to remain fit for more than a couple of months at a time, Ayling gave his verdict on Bamford, saying the one-time England man’s movement is “unbelievable”.

“His movement, I’ve said to him, but his movement is unbelievable. His work rate is a joke and then in the gym, and we weren’t big into the gym,” Ayling said, when discussing Bamford on the latter’s podcast.

“Then he come in his chest built like this, doing chin ups with 25KG hanging from his belt, we’re all sat there saying this guy’s a trojan. We knew straight away we had a player on our hands,” Ayling added.

Daniel Farke defends Bamford but the stats are pretty damning

Speaking ahead of Tuesday’s win over Watford, Daniel Farke leapt to the defence of Bamford when asked about the striker amid Palmer’s comments. He said that Bamford remains a crucial part to this Leeds side.

Bamford’s time at Leeds in numbers:

But is he? Farke even claimed that had Bamford been fit for the run-in last season, Leeds would be in the Premier League. But the Whites manager must admit that this season, Bamford is going to be an outcast.

Last term, Joseph was still a rookie, only used on the off occasion. But this season, Joseph is a key player and he has overtaken Bamford in the race to start up top in Farke’s 4-2-3-1 system at Elland Road.