Leeds United manager Marcelo Bielsa has confirmed that top-scorer Kemar Roofe will return to the matchday squad ahead of their trip to Birmingham City this weekend.
United’s 14-goal forward has been out of action since February 13 after sustaining a knee ligament injury against Swansea City.
There were initial fears that Roofe may miss the rest of the campaign, but he was instead ruled out for six to eight weeks.
Now Leeds’ number seven looks set to be back in the thick of the action, as he bids to make up for lost time to help the club in their pursuit of automatic promotion. They head to St Andrew’s in second place, two points clear of Yorkshire rivals Sheffield United, with seven league games left to play.
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Speaking in his pre-match press conference ahead of the game he said: “Roofe is okay. He couldn’t play with the Under-23s because this week they didn’t play, but he’s going to be in the squad for the next game. The same with (Gjanni) Alioski.”
With Roofe not featuring for the Under-23s since his return to fitness, it’s likely he will be named amongst the substitutes on Saturday.
Patrick Bamford is more likely to lead the line in attack once more, with Bielsa hopeful that the former Oxford forward can make an impact from the bench.
“Roofe has shown before what he can add to the team, so for us it’s important to have someone who can give what he can to the team,” he said.
He did concede, however, that too much shouldn’t be expected of the forward, after such a long injury lay-off.
“It is a long time playing without Roofe, that is something that is true,” he said.
“He couldn’t play any games to help him with the Under-23s. We will see how fast he can adapt to the team and we will see this through the training with the team. The Under-23s games are a higher test, then the most difficult is with the first team. The only we have now are the dates of the training.”
Leeds will be hoping Roofe can add to his 14 league goals this season as they fight to end a 15-year wait for Premier League football.
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