Leeds United handed huge injury boost ahead of City, Jesse Marsch will be buzzing - opinion

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

In a recent report for Leeds Live, Beren Cross revealed that the 28-year-old is finally set to return to the Thorp Arch pitches this week after recovering from a foot injury, before suggesting that fingers are crossed for Jesse Marsch’s next update on the availability of the England international ahead of the visit of Manchester City on Saturday.

In his article, the journalist said: “Bamford is due out on the pitches again this week. Fingers are crossed for Marsch’s next update ahead of the Manchester City clash. Bamford may just be the breath of fresh air needed for that final push next month.”

With the Whites currently sitting a mere five points above the Premier League drop zone with just five games left to play, the fact that Bamford has now been given the all-clear to rejoin first-team training is sure to have left Marsch buzzing.

While injury has severely hampered the forward’s 2021/22 campaign – having scored just two goals over nine appearances in the league – the 28-year-old demonstrated just how important a part of the Leeds squad he is last time out.

Indeed, over his 38 Premier League outings last season, the £18m-rated striker scored 17 goals, registered seven assists and created 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 attacker average a highly impressive SofaScore match rating of 7.01, ranking him as the Whites’ seventh-best player in the English top-flight.

As such, should Bamford be able to refind this level of form following his eventual return to first-team football, it would undoubtedly