Leeds United are far from ‘the finished article’ - Patrick Bamford

But a defensive implosion in the final half-hour saw Cardiff claim a shock point after scoring three times, including twice in the last eight minutes, with the equaliser coming two minutes from time from Bluebirds substitute Robert Glatzel.

It was an afternoon when Leeds’s performance went from the sublime to the ridiculous, with the upshot being that they trail leaders West Brom by two points.

Two-goal striker Bamford, who watched on helplessly at the late developments after being substituted in the 77th minute with Leeds leading 3-1, said: “It is horrible being sat on the bench, you cannot do anything about it.

“But that is just one of those things, sometimes it happens like that and I guess it is our own fault.

“It shows that we have got to learn a lot and we have got to mature as a team because it is concentration really that probably let the lead slip and we have got quite a young team.

“To be honest, going off I was a bit tired but I was a bit disappointed because obviously you want to get a hat-trick.

“I thought going off that the game was done and we had won, you can be happy and go and enjoy watching the rest of the game and then it turns around quickly.

“As you can imagine the lads were distraught.

“If you are three goals up, you should never end up losing the three points.

“I am sure it is entertaining for a neutral, but for us it is disappointing.

“We rarely sit back and it is press, press, press. We are very high tempo and there is no kind of relief at any point in the game.

“So I think in some games, we might have to think about it. Like on Saturday, we probably could have just seen out the win.”

Marcelo Bielsa’s side still hold a 10-point advantage over the side currently occupying third place in the Championship in Preston, who they host on Boxing Day.

Yet the overwhelming feeling was one of anguish after Saturday’s game for Leeds, who face a tough trip to Fulham on Saturday, with Bamford not reading too much into the club’s current healthy league placing.

“It is good, but 10 points is one week if you play three games in a week,” he added.

“It can soon get shut down and we have got to concentrate on winning the next game as it comes and try and win as many games on the bounce as we possibly can.

“It is such a crazy league and a couple of games, a couple of weekends can see a massive turnaround and change the places in the table.

“So for us, hopefully this will bring it a little bit back more into reality that we are not the finished article.

“We have not got over the finish line and we do have to keep working hard.”

On Saturday’s key test at Craven Cottage, Bamford added: “They are fantastic with the ball and a very good team.

“They have got some very good players and I think if you probably looked at their squad, it would be one of the strongest.

“They have got great firepower and I know they are a great team to watch. It will be a good test for us.”