Leeds United winger Stuart Dallas has expressed his fear that the club might become over reliant on striker Patrick Bamford, after Marcelo Bielsa confirmed he would once more be the lone striker for this weekend's trip to Wigan.
The Whites will look to carry on their unbeaten start to the season when they travel to the DW Stadium on Saturday. It's a match that will give Leeds a chance of redemption after last season's costly home defeat to the Latics.
Bielsa's side will be looking to take their chances this Saturday after a number of missed attempts last weekend against Nottingham Forest.
In the week before the game against Forest, Leeds sold forward Kemar Roofe to Anderlecht before bringing in Arsenal striker Eddie Nketiah on transfer deadline day.
Nketiah scored on his Whites debut against Salford City on Tuesday night, however, Bielsa has confirmed he will once more stick with just the one striker on Saturday.
A conundrum that has often faced the Argentine is the inability to convert their chances, however, versatile wing-back Dallas has insisted that Leeds can't just rely on one player.
According to the Yorkshire Evening Post, Dallas said: “It’s a case of not putting too much pressure on Pat,
“Knowing Pat as the lad he is, he will take that upon himself but I think there’s other people in the team to score goals as well so it’s important that we don’t just rely on Pat all the time to get us these goals.
“Pat is Pat, he’s a confident lad and he could miss a few chances at the weekend but then the next game he will go and score a couple and that’s just the lad he is.
“You can’t put all the pressure on their shoulders because it’s just not a clever thing to do is it?"
The Verdict
It's a tough game for Leeds on Saturday, everyone knows about Wigan's strong Championship home form.
Dallas has said the right things here, and he'll be trying to send a message to the supporters that it's not just Bamford who needs to score goals - it's everyone.
With Nketiah arriving last week, that should help boost confidence within the team that the club will be able to score enough goals - despite Roofe leaving to Anderlecht.
It's never a good thing to have a lot of pressure on one player, but sometimes if the striker fails to hit the target then it can cost points come the end of the season.
It'll be interesting to see how long Bielsa sticks with Bamford if he carries on missing the target. Options are now available on the bench for a replacement if needs be.