Huge boost: Major Leeds United injury update emerges, Jesse Marsch will be buzzing - opinion

Jesse Marsch has been handed a huge injury boost concerning Leeds United centre-forward Patrick Bamford.

According to a recent report by the Yorkshire Evening Post, the 28-year-old striker – who has made just three first-team appearances for the Whites since the turn of the year – now looks set to make a return to action against Brighton & Hove Albion on May 15 – despite initial concerns he could be ruled out for the season.

Considering just how important a part of the Leeds United side the England international is – in addition to the fact that, upon sustaining his foot injury towards the end of March, it was claimed that the forward would be out of action for “a minimum of six weeks” – the news that Bamford now looks as if he will make a return to first-team football prior to the end of the current campaign is sure to have left Jesse Marsch buzzing.

Indeed, over his 38 Premier League appearances last season, the £18m-rated striker proved how crucial he is in the Whites’ attack, scoring 17 goals, providing seven assists and creating five big chances for his teammates, as well as taking an average of 2.8 shots and making 0.8 key passes per game.

These metrics saw the £74k-per-week hitman average an extremely impressive SofaScore match rating of 7.01, ranking him as Leeds’ seventh-best player in the English top-flight last time out.

As such, while Leeds’ recent upturn in form has eased their relegation fears this season quite substantially, should Marsch’s side find themselves dragged back into a fight for survival over their remaining six fixtures of the campaign, the return of Bamford could very well prove to be the difference between the club playing Premier League and Championship football in 2022/23.

AND in other