Eddie Nketiah may be pushing to make his Leeds United on Tuesday night when the Whites compete in the Carabao Cup.
Saturday’s draw evoked familiar feelings for Leeds United supporters after a campaign in which Marcelo Bielsa’s side’s promotion hopes were largely scuppered by the team’s inability to take the chances that they created.
Nottingham Forest kept their shape superbly for much of the game at Elland Road, but Pablo Hernandez was the only player to take advantage on the occasions when Sabri Lamouchi’s men left the door open.
It was a frustrating afternoon for Patrick Bamford. The striker had a number of opportunities. Admittedly, plenty were only half-chances, but there is no question that he provided ammunition for his critics who do not believe that he can lead the line in a side that is going to go on and get promotion.
Bamford’s performance was arguably a good one. He once again held his own against Forest’s two centre-backs and some of his running hinted that he is working on learning the aspects of the game that made Kemar Roofe so dangerous at times last season.
But with the 25-year-old failing to find the back of the net, the door appears to have been left ajar ahead of Leeds’ Carabao Cup clash with Salford City on Tuesday night – and Bielsa has a debutant still to unleash.
Eddie Nketiah sealed his season-long loan move to Elland Road on transfer deadline day, and was left out of the team that faced Forest at the weekend. It remains to be seen if Bielsa plans to use the Arsenal striker against the League Two side, but it does appear to be a fantastic opportunity to get the youngster involved.
It may take something special for Bielsa to read too much into the team’s performance on Tuesday given the opposition, but if Nketiah can show some composure in front of goal and perhaps opens his account for United, then the fans may be asking for a change to be made.
Bamford did a lot of good things against Forest, so Nketiah still has to go and win the shirt rather than land it by default. But the buzz surrounding his arrival hints that Leeds have the kind of player that can rip the jersey away from a £10 million teammate (Bamford’s fee reported by BBC Sport).
Salford will be determined to make Leeds their first major scalp since their promotion to the Football League. But there still may not be a better platform for Nketiah to announce himself in style.
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