Leeds United are on the verge again.

The Championship club lie second in the table, level on points with West Bromwich Albion and seven points clear of third-placed Fulham.

They take on the Cottagers in a vital game this weekend that could well be integral to the way the season is going to finish.

If Leeds win the game, they will be 10 points clear of their nearest challengers, and former Championship striker Kevin Phillips believes that manager Marcelo Bielsa needs to take steps to ensure that he can bring the best out of the players he has.

Patrick Bamford, for example, has struggled this season, scoring 13 goals in total in the Championship.

Across the last nine games, though, he has scored just once, against Huddersfield Town in a 2-0 victory in March.

And Phillips believes that young Ryan Edmondson should be promoted to the first-team to put some pressure on the former Chelsea man.

Edmondson has made two appearances for the Elland Road club in total, against QPR and Birmingham City in 2018.

Phillips, per Football Insider, said: “They should have Edmondson on the bench.

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“It puts pressure on Bamford. When you know you have not got anybody on the bench that can come on and replace you, you can almost slip into that comfort zone knowing that even if you play at 75% you are not getting brought off.

“It is a concern for me and I think you should put the young kid on the bench. He might do something that changes a game.

“His enthusiasm will be there and his desire because he will want to impress.”

GIVEMESPORT’S Harry Sherlock says…

Bamford just isn’t that good.

He has been in absolutely appalling form across the last few games and is not the clinical striker Leeds need if they are to reach the Premier League and stay there.

Edmondson may not be a senior professional but placing him on the bench means that Bielsa has another option.

Bamford is a streaky player and went 10 games without scoring earlier this season, while going nine games without a goal in recent weeks.

If Leeds do reach the Premier League, one has to imagine that he will be one of the first to leave; he simply isn’t cut out for the job of first-choice striker in the top-flight.

Nor, it seems, is he good enough for the Championship.