Championship

PATRICK BAMFORD has opened up on the injury hell that ended his World Cup dream.The Leeds striker, 30, made his England debut in a 4-0 win over Andorra in September 2021.
Patrick Bamford has suffered with numerous injury issues in recent seasonsCredit: Getty
Bamford, 30, made his England debut in September 2021Credit: Richard Pelham / The Sun
Bamford hoped that his maiden cap would be just the beginning of an international career leading to the Qatar World Cup the following year.
Unfortunately for the former Chelsea youngster, however, persistent injury woes have so far prevented him from receiving an elusive second call-up from Gareth Southgate.
Having made his England debut just a month into the 2021-22 season, Bamford was limited to just six more appearances for his club that campaign.
Bamford explained on his My Mate’s a Footballer podcast: “Plantar fasciitis is when that (foot) gets really sore, for no real reason. It can get really sore and people struggle to walk.
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“I had a small tear in it. The best way I can describe it is every step whether you’re walking or playing football was like standing on a plug socket.
“It was brutal. I was trying to play through it. I ended up getting an injection in it which was a four or five week lay-off, you had to let the injection work and then come back.
“As I was coming back the pain was a little bit less but as I was playing more and more it was starting to get worse again.”
Bamford made a brief return to action against Brentford in December 2021, even scoring before being forced off with a hamstring issue after just 22 minutes.
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He eventually returned again the following March, only for his foot to cause him more issues.
Bamford admitted: “I was like ‘I’m just going to keep going through it’ because there’s not much else I can do. I kept going and kept going and kept going.
Patrick Bamford reveals terrifying moment Leeds fans confronted him at his house leaving his fiancee shaken
“Because the first injury had come just after I got the England call-up, I was itching to try and get back and try and be in contention for the World Cup.”
In just his second game back, Bamford and Co hosted fellow relegation strugglers at Elland Road.
He continued: “I played against Norwich, played a half which was the plan. Did well but then towards the end of the first half there was a really weird feeling in the bottom of my foot.
“I was like ‘it’s fine, I’m coming off at half-time anyway’. I knew I was only playing a half. 
“So I’ve done that, gone inside and then we had Wolves the following week and I didn’t train really that week until the day before the game, just let my foot settle.
“Then the day before the game my foot was getting more and more sore. So we got to the Wolves game and I was like ‘I’m still going to play because there’s nothing else I can do if I’m just sat there waiting for it to heal’.
“It’s strange because the plantar fascia thing, it doesn’t heal on its own. You either have that pain or your plantar fascia just goes.
“I played the Wolves game, went to accelerate and I realised I can’t push off, it’s too sore, so I couldn’t really run, strange.
“Two minutes later I jumped for a ball over the top and as I landed on my left foot the pain I felt was horrible, I thought ‘that’s bad’.
“So I sat down, that’s the one where I was on the bench basically crying because I knew I had tried to do it and it’s gone.
“Next day I went down to see the specialist for feet in London and he was like ‘you’ve ruptured your plantar fascia’. Which means, where it attaches to the bone on the heel, it had just come off.”
Targeted by fans
Bamford has been a heroic figure at Leeds, having helped them earn promotion to the Premier League under Marcelo Bielsa and scored 17 goals in their first campaign back in the top flight.
But as things began to unravel at Elland Road last season, Bamford became a target of some supporters after missing a penalty against Newcastle.
Having endured threats against his family, including his young daughter, on social media – things escalated further as he headed home from the match.
He explained: “As I turn up the drive to get in I can’t even cross the gate, there’s two cars [blocking it].
“I went to put my window down. As I did, they put their windows up and just stared at me. Then the gate opened because my dad had opened it and they drove off.
“I think it was a culmination of the last few weeks. I took a lot of flak for it. The way they expressed it was crazy.”
Following Leeds’ relegation back to the Championship, Bamford missed their first eight games this term.
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He has been eased back into the fold by Daniel Farke, coming off the bench in his first 16 league appearances of the season.
Bamford has returned to prominence in recent weeks, however, starting Leeds’ last five Championship games and scoring three goals.
Bamford went down injured during a game against WolvesCredit: Getty
The forward was visibly emotional while sat on the bench at MolineuxCredit: Getty More

JON DAHL Tomasson’s future at Blackburn Rovers is hanging in the balance after his explosive attack on the club.The Dane has not resigned while Rovers are still considering their position but are understood to be deeply unhappy with his comments.
Blackburn Rovers manager Jon Dahl Tomasson is on the brink of an exit from Ewood ParkCredit: Getty
It is even unclear whether the skint Championship club can afford to sack the manager who still has half of his three-year contract to run.
But a decision on whether he stays or goes is expected within the next 24 hours.
Tomasson declared this week how frustrated he has been for months over massive cuts in transfer spending.
The 47-year-old said: “It was very serious in the summer when everything changed with a hand grenade that changed everything, cutting the budget.”
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The plan of the club owned by Venky’s and Director of Football Steve Waggott was to spend little and cash in on players coming through the academy.
But Tomasson, with one win in eleven league games, insisted: “I’m a little bit more ambitious
“It’s a difficult moment but that’s why Steve Waggott spoke about staying in the league, developing players.
“It can’t come as a surprise, I told the club in the summer. The alarm clocks are on.”
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Tomasson is also privately furious that 19-year-old home grown midfielder Adam Wharton was sold to Crystal Palace for an up-front £18m plus £4m of add-ons last week.
He told Sun Sport recently that “would find it hard to believe” that Rovers would sell in the January window with a potential battle against the drop looming.
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Meanwhile a loan deal for Orlando striker Duncan Maguire was blocked by the EFL after Rovers failed to complete all the paperwork on transfer deadline day.
An appeal against the EFL decision will be heard this week although the club are not hopeful of success.
It is now the THIRD time in the space of a year that Rovers have seen a transfer fall through due to admin errors.
In January last year, forms to green light the signings of Lewis O’Brien from Nottingham Forest and Ethan Brierley from Rochdale were both not handed in before the deadline.
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HUDDERSFIELD TOWN star Kian Harratt has been suspended for four months after placing 484 bets on football over a three year period.He has been handed a £3,200 fine for the rule breaches – which include betting on his OWN team.
Kian Harratt has been banned for four monthsCredit: Rex
The ban relates to a series of betting breaches that run from June 2020 to June 2023.
As part of the FA hearing which decided on the length of the ban, Harratt admitted to betting on matches he was involved in.
In his statement, Harratt said: “I am also cognisant of the fact that some of the bets that I have placed are more problematic than others, in particular those involving my own team.
“While the vast majority of the bets I have placed on football do not involve my own team, I recognise the issues that placing betsinvolving my own team can cause.”
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The forward went on to admit that he had bet on his team to lose on multiple occasions, saying: “Of the 44 bets of this nature that I placed, 36 involved Huddersfield.
“I was not in the matchday squad for any of the fixtures involving Huddersfield that I bet on, as I was either on loan or training with the reserves at that time.
“Nine of the 36 bets involving Huddersfield included selections for Huddersfield to lose. While, as explained above, I was not in the squad for these fixtures, I accept that these are perhaps the most serious of the bets on football that I have placed.
“As is demonstrated by the spontaneous nature of the bets that I placed, I did not plan or give much thought to the teams that I included.
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The rule breaches covered loan spells at Port Vale and Bradford – where he admitted to still betting on Huddersfield gamesCredit: PA
“Looking back, I find it difficult to explain how or why I would have selected certain teams or fixtures to bet on.
“In particular, I am unable to explain why I would have placed bets against my own team, when it is clear to me now that this is something that footballers should not do.”
Harratt explained to the FA he began gambling when he opened an online betting account on his 18th birthday.
The striker initially limited his betting to horse-racing but explained that this extended to football soon after.
He told the FA: “Unfortunately, as my betting history included in the FA Charge Letter shows, once I started to place bets on football, I found myself unable to stop, despite numerous attempts to do so.”
“I can now see that the number of bets that I placed directly corresponds with the amount of time that I spent on the pitch.
“I found myself continually trying to replicate the feeling of playingregular first team football and when such opportunities were not forthcoming, my gambling activity increased in order to get an adrenaline rush or the same ‘buzz’ I got from playing.”
He went on to confirm that all the bets he placed were in his own name, and he made no attempts to conceal his identity when gambling.
That’s despite Harratt admitting: “I readily accept that I received training and education sessions which included sections on gambling as an academy player and I was aware that the rules say that footballers cannot bet on football.”
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Huddersfield released a statement in response to the ban saying: “Kian immediately admitted the offences upon being charged and has fully cooperated with the subsequent FA and club investigations.
“The club will now support Kian, who is currently recovering from hamstring surgery, through the next four months ahead of his return to football activity.” More