None of which is to say that Beckford is a poor player: he’s scored more goals than anyone in the league this season, which isn’t something to be sniffed at. The problem is that Beckford thrives on two things: strong support from the midfield and poor defending.

Beckford doesn’t really have the skill to consistently create scoring chances on his own. Given a good ball in, however, he can use his superior pace to beat defenders while avoiding offside calls – he can run in from behind the last defenders and still beat them to the ball.

League One is almost tailor-made for that kind of striker – pacey, strong, and opportunistic. With Leeds, in this season, Beckford is in his element. The Premiership, however, is a completely different proposition. Beckford is fit, but not especially so in comparison to the members of any Premiership squad (with the exception of Fulham, who generally play like they’ve had a colossal fry-up before kick-off). Deprived of the innate advantage in pace that he enjoys in League One, and facing vastly more skilled and intelligent defenders, Beckford’s technical deficiencies would be more pronounced and he’d be largely ineffective.

All of which raises a question: if Beckford is, for the moment at least, a strong but unskillful striker, will he cut the mustard in the Championship if (when) Leeds are promoted? It’ll be interesting to find out next year.

Anyone out there have an opinion?

“The 23-year-old has had the good fortune to play for two good sides in this division, which always helps if you are a forward. And his tally of nine goals in 29 games last season and eight for Leeds in 17 this season says he is playing his part in front of goal. But when you look at his all-round game you realise he is in a side that can afford to carry him when he is not playing well. At a different club he might make the team-sheet less regularly.”

To which we can probably add: “In a different division, he might not make the team-sheet at all.” With Leeds in League One, and with the support of the rest of a very solid team, Beckford is fully capable of being not just our best striker, but the best in the League. Will he be able to do that in the Championship next year? I doubt it, although I’d love to be proven wrong – he just doesn’t strike me as a good enough player for a tougher league. Claridge apparently feels the same way:

“At 23 he is still learning the game at this level with only 39 appearances under his belt. Both the games I watched were away from home in a long week for Leeds but he was a major disappointment – but there was enough in small portions to suggest there may be better to come.”

Amen to that. Let’s hope he really is capable of more.