Leeds United head coach Marcelo Bielsa insists that Patrick Bamford is going through a process after another frustrating pre-season encounter for the striker.
Bamford was handed a third start of the summer at the Bankwest Stadium as Leeds relied on a 94th-minute winner from Pablo Hernandez to seal a 2-1 victory over Western Sydney Wanderers in the second and final match of their pre-season tour of Australia.
The 25-year-old is yet to find the back of the net this summer and is looking to improve on his tally of ten goals last season in a campaign that was restricted to 24 appearances by injury.
And after an evening where Bamford spurned a number of chances and saw several shots saved, Bielsa was remaining pragmatic about his striker's performance.
"For a striker it is very important that they create chances," Bielsa said following the match. "So at the same time, for his confidence it is important he finally finishes these type of chances and scores.
"One of the first steps for a forward is [that] it is important he creates a chance and makes steps in his performance in the pre-season and finally he scores goals."
This issue of confidence came up when Bamford spoke earlier in the week Down Under.
“I’m always confident if I start I’m going to score,” he said when discussing the upcoming campaign.
“Unless you’re like Messi or Ronaldo, one in two’s not bad and you always try to keep to that.
“10 in 24, that’s nearly one in two, and I judge it from starts, because if you only come on for three minutes, for me that doesn’t count. In terms of starts, I’m happy and it’s something to push on for again this season.”
Leeds return to the UK on Sunday, with their next pre-season friendly coming next Saturday at Cagliari.
.jpg?w=600)
