Patrick Bamford to end 'terrible' Crystal Palace loan early

Surplus to requirements at Crystal Palace despite a dearth of strikers, Chelsea forward Patrick Bamford has prematurely terminated his season-long loan at Selhurst Park.

"That was my last game for Palace," Bamford said Monday. "If I were being honest, it has been terrible. No one wants to sit on the bench and not play."

"It was my decision. The gaffer hasn't actually spoken to me."

Bamford, 22, was slated to stay with the Eagles until June, but will now return to Stamford Bridge having made only six league appearances this year, all as a substitute.

The Nottingham Forest youth product played the second half for Alan Pardew's Palace on Monday in a goalless draw with Swansea City, but failed to impress after coming on for Marouane Chamakh.

"Strikers will always tell you they need five games," Pardew said of Bamford's form, courtesy of ESPN FC.

"Managers ain't got time for five games. You've got to come in and do it. But that chance was normally one he would take."

The Lincolnshire-born forward had a golden point-blank opportunity to open his Crystal Palace account Monday, but failed to slot it past Swans' 'keeper Lukasz Fabianski.

"Patrick nine times out of 10 would have buried that and we'd have got three points. But I can't be disappointed," Pardew said.

Bamford's inability to find a first-team spot with the south Londoners comes as a bit of a surprise, especially in light of Connor Wickham's injury and mercurial performances by the likes of Dwight Gayle and Chamakh.

A largely inactive campaign this year was preceded by a decorated one the season prior, with Bamford scoring a league-leading 17 times for Middlesbrough in the Championship. He also took home the Football League Awards Championship Player of the Year and was nominated for the Young Player of the Year, which went to Dele Alli of Milton Keynes Dons.