Leeds United have been the team to beat for much of this season and they picked up a crucial three points against Preston North End on Tuesday evening.

It was the perfect response to their defeat to Birmingham City at the weekend, where the Blues ran out 1-0 winners.

But Marcelo Bielsa’s side looked back to their best, and the Leeds boss will certainly be pleased with one of his players’ performance in particular.

Patrick Bamford was a man under pressure coming into the game against Preston, with the summer signing short of confidence in front of goal, at the worst possible time for the Whites.

There had been calls for Kemar Roofe to return to the side against the Lilywhites, but Bielsa remained faithful to Bamford, in what could have been his last chance to impress the Leeds boss.

But Bamford silenced his doubters with two well-taken goals on the night, which saw the Yorkshire-based side move back into the automatic promotion places.

The former Chelsea man will now be confident of retaining his place in the Leeds starting XI as the season heads towards a conclusion.

Even with Kemar Roofe back in the squad, it seems highly unlikely that Bielsa will be dropping Bamford anytime soon, especially after such an impressive showing on Tuesday night.

Competition for places can only be a good dilemma for the Leeds boss to have, and we’re already seeing the positives come from it, as Bamford responded in the best way possible.

The forward is proven in the Championship and will be keen to make up for lost time, having previously been sidelined through injury for the first-half of this year’s league campaign.

But he’s starting to do just that and will be confident of firing Leeds back into the Premier League, especially after such an impressive performance against Preston.