After falling to a disappointing 1-0 defeat against Newcastle United in their latest Premier League outing at Elland Road, it seems as though Leeds United and their fans will now be sweating on the fitness of one of their key players even after the current break in the season comes to a close.

What's the latest?

Following on from the Newcastle defeat, Leeds journalist Phil Hay relayed comments from Bielsa on his official Twitter page revealing that striker Patrick Bamford may not be fit enough to return to action after the break when the Yorkshire club take on Aston Villa in their next Premier League match.

Bielsa's words were: "A player who's gone so long without playing it opens up a question mark about how long he needs to be able to maintain regularity."

Bamford started Leeds' first five Premier League games of the season where he managed to score one goal and provide two assists before staking his claim to be named as the unluckiest player in the league as a result of the constant fitness and injury issues he's picked up since.

An ankle injury kept him out of action until he made a return in Leeds' 2-2 draw against Brentford where he not only managed to score a late equaliser, but he then managed to injure his hamstring in the celebrations.

Fans will be fuming

Now that a potential return to action next month in time for Leeds' match against Villa is looking uncertain, this will only add more frustration to Bamford, Bielsa and the Leeds supporters, who could really do with seeing the striker back in the team to help them pick up some positive results and move away from the relegation zone.

Having scored 17 goals in 38 Premier League appearances last season, Bamford not only showed how much of a danger he can be in front of goal but also how reliable he was for the team by appearing in all of their league games, highlighting how much of a different sort of campaign this one has unfortunately been for him.

As a result, to have the forward continuously not available, especially during the height of Leeds' current injury crisis, will leave plenty of supporters rather upset and angry.

While it wouldn't be wise to rush the Englishman back into action as the first chance of doing so, Leeds will need him in the team towards the end of the season if they want any chance of ending it on a high note.

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