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Patrick Bamford confident he can play alongside Eddie Nketiah

Bamford confident he can play alongside Nketiah
© Reuters
Patrick Bamford insists that it is possible for him to play in the same starting XI as loanee forward Eddie Nketiah.

Patrick Bamford believes that it will be possible for him to play alongside loanee striker Eddie Nketiah at Leeds United this season.

The pair have only shared the pitch for 13 minutes this season, during which Nketiah claimed the winning goal against Brentford from the bench.

However, manager Marcelo Bielsa has used Bamford as a lone striker for all five Championship games, bringing on Nketiah as a like-for-like replacement.

Reflecting on the prospect of playing alongside Nketiah this season, Bamford told the Yorkshire Evening Post: "He can play number seven or number 11 and you saw last year only briefly but me and Roofey sometimes played together - I know it was hard with both of us being injured but we played as a 9 and a 10 so you never know.

"The only time we have really played together was Brentford and Eddie came on and scored but with the whole game with there being three centre backs with one striker against three centre backs it was difficult.

"For our goal, having two strikers up there, it just automatically takes away the fact that they can't just focus on one of you and then obviously Eddie was free to score. I think it has its positives and in certain systems having two strikers works but we just believe in what the gaffer wants and what the gaffer wants we will do."

Nketiah, who has scored three goals for Arsenal in 19 appearances, moved to Elland Road on a season-long loan over the summer.

Leeds came agonisingly close to reaching the Premier League last year, spending most of the year in the automatic promotion spots before losing out in the playoff semi-final against Derby County.

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Leeds United's Eddie Nketiah celebrates scoring their first goal on August 21, 2019
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