Ben Parker believes Daniel Farke’s ability to bring Patrick Bamford off the bench shows just how strong Leeds United’s squad is.
Parker was speaking on the LS11 podcast, where he discussed Bamford’s impact as a substitute in Wednesday night’s 1-0 win over Queens Park Rangers.
Bamford made his return to the squad in last weekend’s 3-1 defeat at Southampton having missed the first eight matches with a hamstring injury picked up in pre-season.
He then got another half-an-hour off the bench in place of Joel Piroe against QPR, where he made a significant impact with his runs in behind.s he continues to build up his match fitness, Bamford will be pushing for a place in the starting XI but Farke will be eager not to do too much, too quickly given his recent injury record.
Parker says Bamford option off the bench huge for Leeds
Reflecting on Leeds‘ win over QPR, Parker believes it shows just how strong the squad now is with the likes of Bamford and Dan James to bring off the bench.
He said: “It’s good to see him back on the pitch, he came on at the weekend and offers us something different. We know his qualities when he’s fit. We brought him and Dan James on and when they’ve been fit over the last two or three years they’ve been starters for us in the Premier League, so it just shows where we’ve moved to squad wise.
“It puts good pressure on the lads starting, they know they have got to play well and they know they’ve got to be bang at it, because if not we’ve got a Bamford, James, the other guys on the bench to come in. The squad is so good.”
There aren’t many better backup strikers in the division than Bamford and once he is fully back to speed, he will be a significant member of the squad.
Bamford looked somewhere close to his old self against QPR, offering something completely different to Piroe, who struggled to get into the game.
The international break will provide him with another two weeks to continue building his fitness and ready to hit the ground running at Norwich City.
