Leeds United striker Kemar Roofe has stressed the importance of the minutes he got on the pitch, more than the goal he scored against Burnley Under-23s.
Roofe has been out for a month with an injury and returned to the pitch earlier this week as part of a Leeds Under-23 side that took on Burnley at Elland Road.
The striker, who was in good form before getting injured, earned much-needed match practice while some of his other Leeds team-mates are off on international duty at the moment.
Roofe was delighted to return to the pitch after the injury layoff and admits that no matter how much he works in training, there is no substitute to playing football.
The forward did score in a 2-2 draw, but he feels the mileage his body received was more important than getting the goal as he looks to return to full fitness.
Roofe said on LUTV: “Yes, it was good to get the minutes in.
“You can do all the running on the training ground but it doesn’t match up to actual game minutes.
“It was nice to get the goal but the main thing was to get the minutes and to come off the pitch still fully fit.
“It’s been a long four weeks and it was very frustrating so it was nice to get back on the pitch.”
With Patrick Bamford out with a knee injury, Leeds are keen to get Roofe back on the pitch for the first team as soon as possible as they approach a crucial period of the season.
