Darren Bent has suggested that Leeds United boss Marcelo Bielsa is at fault for his side's recent issues in front of goal. 

The Whites are second in the Championship and are amongst the top scorers in the division but have been in dreadful form recently–winning just once in their last eight games and scoring once since the start of the year.

They drew a blank against QPR on Saturday and were defeated 1-0 by the West London side, with striker Patrick Bamford missing a penalty.

On-loan Arsenal striker Eddie Nketiah was recalled by his parent club at the start of the month, which means Bamford is the only striker in the first team squad.

The 26-year-old has scored 10 goals for Leeds this season and has taken a lot of flak from fans of the Yorkshire club.

Speaking to Football Insider, Bent has suggested that the blame for the Whites' goalscoring problems does not just lie with Bamford and pointed the finger of blame at Bielsa.

He said: "I don’t know if you can put it on Bamford, obviously this season he’s had games where he’s not scored, he missed a penalty (v QPR) but then Bielsa’s got to take the blame there as well.

“He’s the one who plays him week in, week out, they’ve had a number of good attackers there, when Bamford could have been out the team they could have maybe rotated it a little bit.

“He’s been so Bamford-heavy, they lost Nketiah because he wasn’t getting enough game time there so he went back, I don’t think you can put it all on Bamford.

“I think Bielsa’s got to have a good look at himself and say: ‘I might have made a mistake here.’

“I get Bamford’s a good player and he loves playing him but at the same time, when there were times when he wasn’t doing it, he still continued to play him.”

Leeds appear determined to bring in forward reinforcements before the end of the month and have been linked with a number of Premier League strikers, including Southampton's Che Adams, Sheffield United's Billy Sharp, and Watford's Andre Gray.

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The Verdict

This is an interesting take from Bent. In retrospect, it does seem as if Bielsa may look back with regret on his treatment of Nketiah, however, there was certainly an aspect of bad luck involved.

The 20-year-old was set to replace Bamford in the starting XI in October but suffered an injury the night before the game, which kept him out for around a month.

As a former striker, the 35-year-old can provide a unique perspective on the situation and seems to be giving a bit of support to his fellow forward.

One thing is for sure, Bielsa needs more striking options in the second half of the season, which means Leeds must sign someone before the transfer window slams shut.