Injury expert: This is when Bamford will make Leeds comeback after new setback
Patrick Bamford could be out for another three weeks after his latest setback at Leeds United.
That is the view of injury expert Ben Dinnery, who runs the Premier Injuries site and has a background in medicine and data analysis.
Bamford suffered a hamstring injury after scoring a last-gasp equaliser in Leeds’ 2-2 draw with Brentford on 5 December.
That was his first match back since recovering from the high ankle sprain that forced him to miss nine games shortly after the season began.
When asked by Leeds’ media team last Thursday (9 December) about the 28-year-old’s knock, Bielsa said: “The evolution of the injury is subject to daily assessment.”
Dinnery claims the centre-forward will likely not return until some time in early January.
“Bielsa is very coy when it comes to giving any sort of prognosis,” he told Football Insider’s Adam Williams.
“He always hides behind how any injury might evolve, as well as an individual’s response to an injury. He is, of course, right.
“My understanding is that it is a fairly low-grade setback, nothing too serious. It could be that two to three-week mark.
“But we need to consider the fact that he is coming off the back of a two-and-a-half-month spell out, so he hasn’t got that foundational level of fitness.
“He has had a small handful of minutes in the last three months, and that will have a knock-on effect. He is so, so vital in that team.
“Managers and coaches are forced into making decisions when questions are being asked. No one has stepped up and replaced his goals.”
Bamford has two goals and three assists in eight appearances in total this season.
Leeds are in freefall in the Premier League and in the midst of an astonishing injury crisis, with nine players currently sidelined.
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