Former Leeds United star Noel Whelan admits he rates Patrick Bamford's tireless work ethic in attack for the Whites, but believes goals are the most important thing and gives Eddie Nketiah the edge in that department.
Arsenal loan star Nketiah made an impact from the bench on Tuesday night when he came on and scored the late goal that earned Leeds a point against Preston North End at Deepdale in a 1-1 Championship draw.
Marcelo Bielsa has so far refused to start Nketiah in Championship games, with the veteran Argentine preferring to play Bamford and only look to the Arsenal man from the bench.
The Arsenal loanee has been banging on the door for a league start and made one more statement about his claim to be in the starting eleven on Tuesday night.
Whelan admits that there is much to admire about the work Bamford does up front, but indicated that he is not as good a goalscorer as Nketiah.
And he stressed that what it comes down to is that goals win games.
“Patrick works really hard and there's so much about his game that I really love”, Whelan said on BBC Radio Leeds after the draw at Preston.
“But at the end of the day goals win you games and your striker needs to be scoring chances.
“I don't really care if Nketiah runs into the corner and by the flag and wins a throw-in.
“What I do care about is when that one chance comes he takes it, which he has tonight.”
It remains to be seen whether Bielsa decides to finally give Nketiah a chance in the starting eleven against Sheffield Wednesday this weekend, as Leeds look to record what would be a valuable win.
