Leeds United striker Patrick Bamford returned from Injury as a second-half substitute in the 2-1 loss to Aston Villa but got himself on the scoresheet for his first goal of the season.
The 29-year-old has struggled to maintain any sort of run in the side for over 18 months after a succession of injuries have blighted his career at Elland Road. After a fantastic first season in the top flight with Leeds in which he scored 17 goals, helping his side to a ninth-placed finish in the Premier League table. Having missed the majority of last season, the forward was hoping appearances this campaign would be less sporadic, but injuries again have ruled the former England international out for large parts again.
Suffering from Plantar Fasciitis for most of last season, Bamford returned to action in the Wolverhampton Wanderers game but shortly after the match had started, he again went down injured, but this time it was a full tear of the same injury that had kept him out for so long and he would unfortunately, play no further part in the campaign. This season he has suffered from an abductor injury and then underwent surgery on a groin problem. However, his rehabilitation this time has gone smoothly and the player himself has stated how good it feels to be back in the squad and helping the team out.
🎙 Patrick: "I feel that I'm in a position where I can give more to the team" pic.twitter.com/sezMTwUrxB
— Leeds United (@LUFC) January 13, 2023
Speaking after last night’s game Bamford said, “It’s nice to be back and actually feel in one piece. So obviously, everyone knows I had the operation just in the break that we had for the World Cup, which well, I think got to the root of all the problems that kind of stemmed from that and yeah I felt a lot better, now it’s just getting up to match speed and hopefully, I can do that in the coming weeks.”
“I think that was one of the worst things about last year that I was, was out and watching the games, I wasn’t able to help the team. I felt that I’d be able to. So, now I feel that I’m in a position where I can definitely give more to the team and play a big part.”
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