Roofe is fronting up in his quest to lead Leeds

KEMAR ROOFE wants to play as a striker. The departure of Chris Wood, who left Leeds for Burnley in a £16million move, has given him that opportunity. Roofe has had a complex career. He never made a breakthrough at West Brom, his first club, and went to Oxford to make his mark, scoring 18 goals in a single campaign. A move to Leeds brought three goals in his first season. He has managed to beat that tally over just two games, scoring a hat-trick in midweek and a leaping headed goal on Saturday that was straight out of the Wood playbook. Team-mate Eunan O’Kane was impressed: ‘His goal today — he was in the right place at the right time and it’s an incredible header.’ Roofe will be challenged by Jay-Roy Grot, a 6ft 4in 19-year-old who joined from Nijmegen last week and came on at the City Ground. Roofe’s presence suited his side’s dynamic forward line perfectly, the 24-year-old playing his part as undefeated Leeds rose to third in the Championship with Ezgjan Alioski scoring the second late on. Manager Thomas Christiansen, who learned from Johan Cruyff at Barcelona, is keen on players like Roofe who can fill several roles. He said: ‘If he plays striker he can score, as he has shown in the last two games.’