Patrick Bamford has new injury problem at Leeds after ‘very worrying’ setback – expert
Alex McLeish has insisted Patrick Bamford faces a new mental hurdle to overcome after his lengthy injury layoff at Leeds United.
The former Scotland manager, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, admitted last week’s setback against Wolves will have been “very worrying” for the 28-year-old.
The Leeds striker was visibly upset as he limped off injured at Molineux after 23 minutes, having recently returned to action.
As quoted by Leeds Live, Jesse Marsch revealed he does not think it is a “bad” injury setback.
However, McLeish insisted Bamford will have been “fearing the worst”.
He suggested the striker now faces a mental battle after suffering a scare so soon after returning to action.
McLeish told Football Insider’s Russell Edge: “He looked distressed. It was like he was fearing the worst.
“Hopefully, after getting some sleep, the next day he will have been feeling okay. The physios and the guys that look after him would be saying: ‘You don’t have to worry, you can get over this.’
“I’m sure within 24 hours, he’d have been feeling a wee bit better. The mental side is very, very difficult.
“I didn’t really suffer that badly in my career. It was later on in my career, but Bamford’s 28. He’s still got plenty of years of playing. I was maybe 32 or something.
“It’s very worrying as a young guy. He’ll be thinking: ‘I just cannot recover from this,’ but hang in there son. You’ve got great people round about you.
“You can rely on the team, do what they say, don’t cut any corners and get yourself to full fitness.”
Bamford has started just twice for Leeds since September.
He has made a total of 10 appearances across all competitions this season.
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