Leeds United midfielder Archie Gray was not involved in England U20s’ 3-2 victory over Germany on Monday evening.
Gray made his debut for the age group in a 3-0 defeat to Italy last week having been promoted from the U19s for the first time, but missed out completely against Germany.
According to the Yorkshire Evening Post, Gray was allowed to return to Leeds early from international duty after an agreement was struck for him to take part in just one match over the break.
Leeds are keen to manage his workload and minutes carefully after Daniel Farke was left furious at how many minutes he played for the U19s during the October international break.
After a busy schedule with Leeds, Gray played 90 minutes three times for the Young Lions and clearly the club were keen to avoid a repeat of that, hence the reason for this agreement.
Gray should now be fresh for Rotherham vs Leeds
Unfortunately for many of Leeds’ international players, they have a tight turnaround for the return to club action with the Whites making the trip to Rotherham United on Friday night.
Due to the amount of players in Leeds’ squad who are away with their respective countries, this has left Farke seriously unhappy with the way the fixture has been scheduled.
Welsh trio Joe Rodon, Ethan Ampadu and Dan James face a crucial EURO qualifier with Turkey, while Wilfried Gnonto is also in action for Italy’s U21s, providing he is fit.
Thankfully for the ‘phenomenal’ Gray, he won’t have that problem and so should be fresh for Leeds’ return to action, with a start at right-back once again likely.
It is difficult to see Djed Spence being thrown straight back in from the start and in his absence over recent weeks, Gray has been Leeds’ first choice right-back.
Receive a digest of our best Leeds content each week direct to your mailbox
