"A victim" - Joel Piroe issued Leeds United warning amid Patrick Bamford form | OneFootball

Paul Robinson has warned Joel Piroe that he needs to turn around his Leeds United form amid Patrick Bamford’s recent positive performances.

Bamford scored his fifth league goal of the campaign to secure all three points at home to league leaders Leicester City on Friday night (all stats from Fbref).

A 95th minute goal capped off an important night for the Whites, as they moved within six points of Enzo Maresca’s side.

But it was another disappointing evening for Piroe, who was replaced after 64 minutes, having failed to make much of an impact in the game.

The Dutchman has just two goals in his last 10 league appearances, having only been a substitute five times in that run.

Robinson issues Piroe warning

Robinson believes Piroe is a victim of Bamford’s resurgence in form, with the more experienced forward having scored five in his last seven in the league.

The former goalkeeper warned that the 24-year-old will have to rise to Bamford’s level of performance in order to earn his place back in the team on a more regular basis.

“He’s part of a squad that’s doing extremely well, that’s looking for promotion to the Premier League,” said Robinson, via MOT Leeds News.

“They started the season with Piroe and Rutter as alternate nines, one in behind the other.

“Two false nines if you like, neither really were a nine.

“He was given an opportunity at the start of the season.

“He scored a lot of goals and did very, very well.

“But Patrick Bamford’s come back into the side and he’s made a real difference and scored goals.

“When a striker does that in your position you’re not going to leave him out of the team so he’s just a victim of somebody else playing better than him in his position in all honesty.

“But he’s part of an extremely good, strong squad.

“We know about Patrick Bamford’s injury record. We know he can’t be relied on for a full season and you saw at the start of the season that Piroe and Rutter will be utilised in those positions.

“I don’t know what Piroe is thinking, whether he wants to play as a nine, whether he wants to play out wide, or just wants to play in the team anywhere.

“If he wants to play as a nine, when he’s given the opportunities he’s got to perform at the same levels that Patrick is and score the goals that he is.”

Patrick Bamford's recent goal-scoring form

Bamford made his return to the starting lineup at Leeds on 1 January, and has scored five in seven appearances since then, including from six starts.

During that same period, Piroe has contributed just two goals and one assist, in comparison, which led to him dropping to the bench in wins over Cardiff City, Preston North End and Rotherham United.

Three starts in his last three games has brought him back into the team, but being replaced after 64 minutes against Leicester may hurt his chances of starting in the coming weeks.

Bamford did not feature in wins over Swansea City and Plymouth Argyle, but has otherwise received a lot of praise for his recent impact at Elland Road.

Leeds United league position

The victory over the Foxes.ensured Daniel Farke’s side maintained its place inside the automatic promotion places.

The gap to third place Ipswich Town remains non-existent, with a superior goal difference for the Yorkshire outfit all that separates the two teams.

However, Southampton in fourth fell further behind last weekend due to a 2-1 home loss to Millwall.

Next up for Leeds is an FA Cup fifth round clash away to Chelsea on 28 February.

A good problem for Farke to have

This is a problem that Farke will welcome, as it means his attacking options are providing competition for each other for regular game time.

Bamford had a difficult last couple of seasons, but getting back to full fitness has seen him get back to a high level in the last month or so.

This has been a huge boost to the team’s promotion chances, and shows the strength of Leeds’ squad depth.

It is now up to Piroe to rise to the challenge and improve his standard of performance in order to prove he deserves greater playing time over Bamford, which should be beneficial to Leeds during the run-in.