‘It’s too easy for him’ – Patrick Bamford's verdict on Leeds United youngster after 6-2 win over Southampton at Elland Road - Yorkshire Post 17/9/22
Patrick Bamford is feeling positive about the future of Leeds United after scoring a hat-trick for the club’s Under-21s side on Friday night.
By Ben McKenna
The Whites youth side breezed past Southampton Under-21s with
a 6-2 win at Elland Road. Bamford was among a handful of first-team players who
featured, as the likes of Liam Cooper, Junior Firpo and Luke Ayling used the
fixture as an opportunity to build up their fitness.
Leeds United’s senior side last played on September 4 and
will not return to action until October 2 following fixture postponements
related to the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
Bamford was impressed by a number of performances from the
Leeds youngsters as Crysencio Summerville, Liam Cooper and Sonny Perkins also
netted in the rout.
Summerville produced a fine display in front of over 10,000
fans at Elland Road as he also won a penalty which was put away by Bamford.
"Sometimes it is too easy for him, I know it sounds
silly but he is a really good player,” Bamford told LUTV of Summerville after
Friday’s win.
"We see it in training all the time, I think the next
step for him is showing it in the first team when he gets the chance on a
Saturday.
"You have got the young players like Darko [Gyabi],
Willy [Gnonto] and Sonny as well, his goal was a great finish.”
Dom Ballard and Sam Bellis scored two late goals to rescue
some pride for Southampton and Bamford admits it is all part of the learning
curve for the Leeds youngsters.
He continued: "The future looks promising. There is the
learning side of it because there is no way we should have conceded two at the
end.
“There is a learning curve and I am sure they will have
taken a lot away from tonight.
"I try and help them as much as I can. Even if it means
that I had a go at Darko on the pitch but I get on really well with him, he
took it well.
"I just told him sometimes you need to put your foot
through it. It is part of the learning curve for all of them.
"These games, we come down to help them but hopefully
we can show them what they need to do as well.”
With Leeds waiting almost an entire month between senior
fixtures, Bamford felt the Under-21s outing was a good opportunity for some of
Jesse Marsch’s injured players to get back up to speed.
“It was good for the first-team players to get the minutes
because we have missed a few games and then a couple of games got cancelled,”
he added.
"The main thing was we wanted to win the game and we
managed to do that. It was a good night. My job is to score goals, I try and do
it every game and it is always nice coming off the pitch with three.
"I feel good, it is just about getting the minutes and
getting that consistency of game after game to get into the swing of things and
get your body used to it again.”
