The Athletic's Phil Hay has delivered a big injury update on Leeds United star Patrick Bamford and his chances of making a comeback against Leicester City this weekend.

What's the story?

In what will be Jesse Marsch's first game in charge of the Whites following his appointment as Marcelo Bielsa's successor, Hay has now suggested that Bamford is nearing his first-team comeback, and that he could even be set to feature in the match-day squad against the Foxes on early Saturday afternoon.

In a fan discussion for The Athletic, he said: "Injury wise, Bamford was training today and has a chance of being in the squad for the weekend."

Then, in a response to a question, he added: "I don't remember Bielsa saying he'd be out for the season but he hadn't given any clear indication of when Bamford would be back. Bamford's injury was muscular in his foot. The nature of it seemed to make a timescale difficult to predict, although the noises from Thorp Arch for the past couple of weeks said he was definitely getting there.

"Bielsa always had very strict standards when it came to passing players fit, not least the completion of murderball. Marsch will probably take a different view - although it's worth saying that he didn't confirm that Bamford would definitely be involved this weekend."

Huge news for Leeds

Make no mistake about it, Bamford's absence for large parts of this season has been a major blow for Leeds and was part of the reason why Bielsa's time at Elland Road eventually came to an end.

The England international has been the focal point of this attack for a number of years now, and enjoyed a superb campaign in the Premier League last year, netting 17 goals and providing another eight assists in the division.

His start to this year was quite promising too, with one goal and two assists in his first five top-flight games before picking up that ankle injury. As if to underline his importance to this team, his initial comeback from that injury against Brentford saw him come on for the final 22 minutes and net a last-minute equaliser.

Since then, he is yet to make a first-team appearance, and with Leeds' Premier League status in jeopardy, his return cannot come soon enough.

News that he could be back in 24 hours' time against Leicester is sure to have fans buzzing.

Meanwhile, Phil Hay has made an intriguing claim about Jesse Marsch's plans at Elland Road...