Return of Chris Wood for Leeds United would be welcome boost, says Peter Lorimer

The former Elland Road favourite also believes Steve Evans should give youth its chance to shine before the end of the 2016-17 campaign - but only once the club is mathematically safe from relegation.

He believes the Leeds squad is capable of that and is predicting another mid-table finish.

“One thing I want to see before the season finishes – and preferably at Rotherham United tomorrow – is the return of Chris Wood,” said Lorimer.

“He’s one player who has to get some games in before the summer comes, to get his confidence up as much as anything.

“He’s got quite a long contract so he’s one of the players who’ll be here next season and, to be honest, he’s impressed me in the games where he’s done well.

“But it’s probably fair to say that he’s not quite convinced all of the fans and I’m sure he’ll be annoyed about the fact that we’re into April and he’s still stuck on eight goals.

“After his high-profile transfer to Elland Road, he was probably looking for a 20-goal return.

“Obviously he’s had injury problems, but it does seem like the club has been holding him back in the past few weeks. They’ve been reluctant to take any risks with him and you’d understand that if we were a couple of months into the season with another 30 games to go.

“But really, if he starts tomorrow and limps off again, what difference does it make? The summer holiday will be here in four or five weeks time and it’s not like he’ll be needed for the play-offs.

“I’m not advocating a scenario where the club is reckless with him, but I really think the time has come to get him back out there.”

Once safe, Lorimer adds, youngsters who have been on the fringes of the squad for most of the season should be given an opportunity to taste Championship football.

“When the club is mathematically safe I’d like to see some of the kids get a go,” added Lorimer.

“Not en masse or to an excessive degree, but in the right games, just to give them a taste of what first-team football is like when you’re on the field and in the thick of it.

“There’s the goalkeeper, Bailey Peacock-Farrell, and a couple of others too. It would do them no harm at all to go away for the summer feeling like they’re part of the plans.

“Given our league position, that has to be in Steve Evans’s mind.”

With a lack of consistency being Leeds’s main problem this season, Lorimer is not expecting a strong finish to the campaign.

“The last five games have been a collection of good displays, average displays and shocking displays and you never quite know what this team is going to give you,” he added.

“In terms of the football, I’m not expecting Leeds to finish off the campaign with nine straight wins and some sensational performances.

“If they do that then you’d have to ask why the same players have been so up and down for the rest of the campaign – the parts of the campaign which actually mattered.

“I’d settle now for some stable results and more of an even keel; some consistency, rather than an impressive win followed by an abysmal defeat.”