This article is part of Football League World’s ‘Comment’ series, this content strand is where the author of the article issues their personal opinion on the topic at hand….

Leeds United under-23 striker Ryan Edmondson has once again staked his claim for a first-team opportunity with a goal against Barnsley this week.

The 18-year-old has shown throughout his youth career at Leeds that he has finishing ability destined to make an impact in at first-team level. Yesterday marked another occasion where the towering striker proved this with a well-taken first-time strike following a swift break, a chance that is seen all-too-often go begging in the Championship for the Whites this campaign.

Edmondson has had very little chance to showcase his talents for the first-team with only a couple of appearances in the league, coming on as a late substitute with barely any time to make an impact.

There has been a clamour for Edmondson to be given a chance in the squad under Marcelo Bielsa, with many fans rightly citing his free-scoring form for the under-23s. The forward has definitely done as much as other players to warrant consideration for the matchday squad, with other notable youngsters making the jump such as Jamie Shackleton, Leif Davis, and Jack Clarke among others.

The problem that Edmondson faces is that he is in a position with limited chance to replace anyone, as Bielsa operates with just one striker, and has at least two first-team options regularly available, with Patrick Bamford and Eddie Nketiah covering that role currently.

The reasons behind the huge clamour for Edmondson so be given a chance by Bielsa is both because of his goal-scoring talents, but also the serious shortcoming in that department that the first-team are demonstrating this season.

Figures have been compiled to demonstrate how many goals each team in the league are expected to have scored at this point in the season (‘expected goals’ or xG) and it highlights Leeds’ dominance in the final third as they sit top of the charts for xG, however, what further proves the issues currently facing Bielsa is that the Whites are currently the worst performing team compared to their xG score.

What this means is that Leeds are getting consistently great chances to score but are squandering them with poor finishing, hence the outcry for Edmondson to feature as he shows the quality needed in the area to finish these opportunities.

One of the biggest opportunities yet for Edmondson to make the jump up to Leeds’ first-team squad has been the injury layoff to on-loan striker Eddie Nketiah, who has been out of the squad since picking up an abdominal injury in the build-up to the QPR game at the beginning of this month.

This injury to Nketiah has left the door wide open for Edmondson to prove he can deputise in his absence and be used as the ‘plan B’ to Patrick Bamford if Leeds need a different route to goal.

His goal for the under-23s has shown again that he can finish the chances that are presented to the Leeds attackers regularly and it is becoming harder and harder for Marcelo Bielsa to ignore his tremendous form. It surely won’t be long before the young striker is repaid for his great form at youth level by building a run together in the league for Leeds.