Leeds United pundit Noel Whelan believes having Patrick Bamford available against Burnley ‘could be massive’, Football Insider report.

The Lowdown: Bamford in line for return?

Bamford has endured an injury-hit campaign so far this season, making just six Premier League appearances.

He made a brief return from an ankle problem at the beginning of December but suffered a hamstring issue after celebrating his stoppage-time equaliser against Brentford.

However, Marcelo Bielsa refused to rule Bamford out of the scheduled Liverpool game on Boxing Day after the 4-1 defeat to Arsenal.

On that basis, it seems as if Bamford could be in line for a return to the squad for their next fixture now with even more recovery time under his belt, with Whelan giving his thoughts.

The Latest: Whelan’s comments

Whelan, who contributes for BBC Radio Leeds, was talking to Football Insider about the club’s injury issues.

He name-checked Bamford when talking about injuries, labelling a possible return against Burnley on January 2 as ‘massive’.

“It’s been unfortunate.

“It’s given an opportunity to those players who were on the fringes of coming back, like Bamford.

“They’ve had that bit of extra time to get themselves right and be part of the squad for these games. That could be massive. Especially for the Burnley game.

“It’s no secret that we’ve missed a lot of players over this Christmas period. It will be nice to get back to a nearly fully-fit squad for the remainder of the season.”

The Verdict: Needed…

Leeds’ options from the bench against Arsenal were all Under-23 players, with youngsters Cody Drameh and Joe Gelhardt even starting.

Bielsa is down to the bare bones, especially with the recent Covid-19 outbreak at the club, so having Bamford available against Burnley, even if it is from the bench, could be huge.

Hopefully the 28-year-old is just one of a number of players to make returns at Elland Road on Sunday, and who knows, the club could look back at the recent postponements against Liverpool and Aston Villa as a blessing in disguise.

In other news: Leeds 'set' to sign attacker in January who has the same agent as Forshaw – journalist.