Leeds United striker Patrick Bamford has revealed that Daniel James told him his first goal for the club felt like a ‘weight lifted off his shoulders’.
James netted the opener in Leeds’ 2-1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday when he tapped home Jack Harrison’s superb cross following an excellent piece of movement to escape Sergio Reguilon.
That goal was a clear confidence booster for James, who put in arguably his best performance in a Leeds shirt against Antonio Conte’s side.
Until the clash in North London, James had struggled in front of goal for the Whites, failing to net in any of his first 12 appearances in all competitions.
Since arriving from Manchester United for a fee of £25 million in the summer, the 24-year-old has been a regular in Marcelo Bielsa’s starting XI.
It wasn’t until the 2-1 win at Norwich City in late October that he registered his first assist for the club, either, when he provided the pass for Raphinha to score the opener.
But with two goal contributions in his last three matches, he is starting to show the kind of form that warranted an almost three-year chase from Bielsa.
And when Bamford spoke to the Welshman after the defeat on Sunday, he admitted that the goal was a major lift of pressure.
Speaking on the official Leeds United podcast, Bamford said: “I went over to the box after him when he came up after the game and I was like, ‘is that a big weight off your shoulders?’ and he said, ‘yeah’.
“Obviously he was happy to score and he said that he should have scored a few more in the games before.
“He was really happy and you saw it in the game.
“After he scored, it was a boost of confidence and he was trying things and you could see what it did for him.”
