Hull City captain Eric Lichaj has claimed that Patrick Bamford kneed Tigers' goalkeeper George Long in the head intentionally, in the build-up to Leeds' second goal in their 2-0 win over Grant McCann's side on Tuesday night.

Leeds were already 1-0 up thanks to an own goal from Jordy de Wijs when the incident happened with less than ten minutes of normal time remaining in the clash at Elland Road.

After Kiko Casilla produced a brilliant save to deny Hull from a corner, Leeds went on the counter-attack down the other end of the pitch, with Mateusz Klich teeing up Bamford, whose first-time effort cannoned back off the post, before being fired in on the rebound by Ezgjan Alioski to seal the three points for Leeds.

Speaking after the game however, Lichaj was far from happy with the actions of Bamford, who appeared to collide with Long after his effort, something which the American claimed was done purposefully, as revealed by BBC Radio Humberside reporter David Burns.

Reflecting on the incident, Lichaj was quoted by Burns as saying: "Professional footballers you know what you're doing. He's know's what he's doing, he could get out the way but he doesn't.

"It's not good, especially if you're leaving knees on to people's heads , this is not part of the game and needs to be stamped out."

Following the win, Leeds are now top of the Championship table, one point ahead of West Brom - albeit having played a game more than the Baggies - and 11 points clear of the play-off places.

Hull meanwhile, are 13th in the standings, five points adrift of the top six.

The midweek Leeds United quiz – How much attention have you paid in 2019/20 so far?

The Verdict

This is really hard to make a judgement on.

There is clearly contact between Long and Bamford after the Leeds man has his effort on goal, and with the Hull 'keeper remaining on the ground as Alioski fires in the rebound, it certainly seems as though he felt the full force of the blow.

Whether that was intentional or not is something that only Bamford will now, and he may well point to his momentum carrying him into the goalkeeper, although he does seem to slow somewhat after taking his effort, which is what Lichaj may be alluding to here in his suggestion that there was no need to make contact.

The fact that Long went onto to complete the rest of the game does at least suggest that there was no serious damage here, which is the most important thing, although with the attention there is on the long term effects of blows to the head and concussion, you wonder if that is something that could come under scrutiny at some point.