Patrick Bamford now in position few expected thanks to Leeds teammate

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Kemar Roofe’s return leaves two Leeds United stars facing a fight to hold onto their spot in the side.

As reported by the Yorkshire Evening Post, Leeds look set to soon receive a huge boost ahead of the final seven games of the Championship season with Kemar Roofe closing in on returning to full training.

The report notes that Roofe is thought to have an outside chance of playing against Birmingham City this weekend, and that could leave Marcelo Bielsa with a selection headache.

Before he sustained his injury in the win over Swansea, Roofe was playing in the number 10 role behind Patrick Bamford, making it an even bigger blow given the problems that Leeds have had with that central attacking midfield position this season.

But Roofe’s absence handed Tyler Roberts the chance to get a run of his games under his belt. And given how the Wales international has performed lately, it is perhaps fair to say that it is one of his teammates who find themselves in a position that no-one would have expected several weeks ago.

Considering Bamford has started nine times in the league, his return of six goals is extremely impressive. Along the way, there have been some vitally important strikes: the winners against Bolton and Bristol City, and the brace that knocked the wind out of West Brom’s sails as they looked to recover from Pablo Hernandez’s stunner 16 seconds in.

Unfortunately, the summer signing has struggled a little lately. He missed a couple of fantastic chances in the win at Reading, had an effort cleared off the line against Sheffield United and missed a penalty in a difficult afternoon at home to Millwall.

Meanwhile, Roberts is producing some outstanding displays. Some questioned the club’s decision to sign the forward in January 2018 as he spent several months on the sidelines before making his debut.

However, the youngster has since gone on to become one of the most exciting players within Leeds’ side, and it appears that the club have something special on their hands.

With that in mind, it would be incredibly ruthless for Bielsa to drop Roberts to make way for Roofe. And while his loyalty to his players would hint that Bamford will also get another chance to prove that he can bounce back from a tricky spell, it certainly appears that the striker should be feeling the heat a lot more than Roberts will be ahead of Roofe’s comeback.