Manager fumes as former Leeds United hero sees red in Championship clash

Former Leeds United promotion hero Patrick Bamford produced a landmark of the wrong kind on Saturday when he was shown the first red card of his career in Sheffield United’s 3-1 win against Championship rivals Ipswich Town.

The former Whites striker left Elland Road earlier this season and was reportedly the subject of interest from clubs at home and abroad as he assessed the next step in his career. However, it was the Blades that won the race to secure his services as Bamford penned an initial short-term deal in November before agreeing to an 18-month extension two weeks ago.

The striker’s time with Chris Wilder’s side has been largely positive and he found the net in Saturday’s win against Ipswich to take his tally to seven goals in 14 games in all competitions. However, the game would end on a low for the once-capped England international after he was shown a first yellow card for dissent with quarter of an hour remaining before being dismissed by referee Tom Nield after being shown a second yellow card for simulation.

Bamford had raced in on goal and went to ground after rounding Tractor Boys goalkeeper Christian Walton and the striker was cautioned for a second time and was shown a red card with just five minutes remaining. However, United boss Wilder has left fuming with the decision after Bamford’s team-mate Femi Seriki was not cautioned for a similar offence.

The Blades boss told the Sheffield Star: “I thought he’d gone around the goalkeeper. I’ve not had a chance to speak to Pat, but he’s right there. We had one on the far side in the first half as well, and so if the ref thought Pat had dived and booked him, and felt Femi had dived, why didn’t he book Femi? But, yeah, there it is.”

What has Patrick Bamford said about his new Sheffield United deal?

He told the Blades YouTube channel: "Yes, really excited and obviously happy that it's kind of been closed off now. It's one of them when you get the uncertainty for a bit, it's just that kind of what's going to happen, what's not going to happen, so I was really happy to get it done now.

"The worst thing is kind of not knowing whether you're coming or going or what's going to happen or whether I'm going to have to move the family. There's so many ifs, buts and maybes and to finally have that all settled just makes it a lot more seamless."

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