Marcelo Bielsa has conceded that Patrick Bamford was not at 100 per cent, which played a role in his performance level dropping in the second half of Leeds United’s 1-0 win at Bristol City on Saturday afternoon.
Bamford’s ninth-minute goal was the difference between the two sides as Leeds scored a narrow win over the Robins away at Ashton Gate.
However, the striker was struggling with his fitness and he was eventually taken off in the 57th minute as he continued to labour on the pitch for the Whites.
Bamford has struggled with knee injuries this season and while Leeds are not expecting to receive any bad news on his fitness, the striker will undergo a few tests on Sunday.
Bielsa admits that he could have taken the striker off earlier, but he did not as Bamford was playing a key role on the pitch and it could have affected his team's rhythm.
He conceded that the striker wasn’t 100 per cent fit and it led to the dip in his level of performance.
Asked why he did not take Bamford off earlier, the Leeds boss said in a press conference: “I could have taken the decision I took earlier.
"For us, the movements in the pitch, we need to make movements in the pitch to attack and press the opponent.
“Bamford is very important in this, because he’s important I didn’t want to take him out of the game.
"I saw his performance weakened us a little after the goal he scored.
“Sometimes when you know a player is important you resist the temptation of taking him out of the pitch.
“As he was not 100 per cent, his performance decreased.”
Leeds will hope Bamford has no bad reaction to his outing at Ashton Gate, as they are also missing Kemar Roofe at the moment.
