Leeds United head of medicine and performance Rob Price says he is keeping a close eye on the workload of Archie Gray, but none more so than any other player.
Price was speaking on the latest episode of the Official Leeds United Podcast where he was asked about Gray after a chaotic start to the season for the youngster.
Gray is enjoying a breakthrough campaign at Elland Road under Daniel Farke and up until last Saturday’s 3-0 win over Watford, had started every game in league and cup, with Neil Redfearn describing his performances as ‘sensational’.
Only three teenagers – Adam Wharton, Dexter Lembikisa and Callum Doyle – have played more than Gray’s 631 minutes in the Championship this term, though they are all two years older than him.
In Leeds’ final game before the international break against Sheffield Wednesday, Gray had started to show the first signs of him looking a little jaded.
Price says he is monitoring Gray workload
As such, Leeds were forced to withdraw him from the England U19s squad, something which Price claimed they do not like to do, though it had to be done.
He said: “We look at his loads and his wellness and, certainly, coming up to the last international break there were signs he was towards the edge of being overplayed-overtrained. We ended up having to withdraw him from the England squad, which is something we don’t like to do, but he got to the stage where he wouldn’t have been able to perform in that next week, whether it was our game or whether it was their game.
“We pulled him out and put him on a recovery protocol for around 10 days into that international break and he came back and has been fresh. We keep a close eye on all of them, so it’s probably wrong to say we keep a closer eye on him.”
Thankfully for Gray, Leeds finally have some strong depth in central midfield for what feels like the first time in forever.
Last Saturday for example, Gray was afforded a rest against Watford, with £5 million summer signing Glen Kamara taking his place and producing a strong display.
Leeds also have another £5 million addition on their bench in Ilia Gruev who is still waiting for his full debut, and both of those two players will allow Gray to be managed carefully.
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