Leeds should start Kemar Roofe v Huddersfield Town

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Is it time for the Leeds United boss to put his faith in the 23-year-old?

With four points and five goals scored in five Championship games, the Premier League is hardly beckoning Leeds United’s name at the moment.

Ahead of hosting top-of-the-table Huddersfield Town on Saturday, the Whites are 21st in the Championship, and only six teams have scored less goals than them so far.

Strikers Marcus Antonsson and Chris Wood – who have played 10 league games – have netted three times between them. It could be worse, of course, but it could also be a lot better.

Is it time Garry Monk experiments with £3 million forward Kemar Roofe up front?

The 23-year-old, who scored 26 times in all competitions for Oxford United last season, has found himself being used in a wide role to little effect so far by Monk.

Roofe, who has clocked 217 minutes of Championship football, has not yet found the net for United, though he does have one assist to his name.

But the forward has created just one goalscoring chance in five matches, along with two successful crosses. At what stage does Monk question whether Roofe’s talents are being wasted on the wing?

Nobody scores 26 times at any level without being quite an accomplished finisher, and it’s not as if Monk risks breaking up a devastating strike partnership by trying to accommodate Roofe, is it?

Wood is wholly inconsistent, while it remains to be seen if Antonsson – a summer signing from Kalmar – can cut it in the Championship. Of course, the same question marks hang over Roofe, but only one of them is getting chances up front.

In his defence, Monk appears to be under increasing pressure, perhaps making him more reluctant to experiment, but with Wood and Antonsson blowing hot and cold as a pair, affording Roofe chances to shine through the middle is perhaps a risk worth taking.

Leeds United manager Garry Monk