Leeds United manager Daniel Farke has praised Archie Gray for his “unbelievable endurance”.
The Whites boss was speaking to Leeds Live after Wednesday night’s Championship draw at Hull City.
Gray has not only made his Leeds debut this season, but has already started in nine games this term.
The 17-year-old was in and around the Whites first team last term, making multiple matchday squads.
This season, Gray is a regular in Farke’s team at Elland Road, and already has 793 minutes under his belt.
The midfielder played the full 90 minutes against Hull, delivering yet another solid outing in the middle.
After the 0-0 draw, Leeds Live asked Farke about Gray’s condition after another full game under his belt.
“He’s blessed with unbelievable endurance and this helps,” he said.
“I got the feeling with an outstanding performance at Millwall and we need his endurance and physicality also during this game.
“Was hoping perhaps in the second half to bring a bit more perhaps a bit more creative player like Kamara or perhaps he also Ilia Gruev in for him.
“But once we went on the under load we needed also his physicality and ability to close down the gaps.
“Was lots of shifting and lots of running was especially against the ball, he was pretty pretty important during this period.”
Our view
It’s great to see Gray become an established and indispensable first-team player at Leeds at such a young age.
Admittedly, Farke will need to be mindful of his game time, so as to not risk burnout or fatigue.
However, Farke is an experienced manager and will no doubt give him rest here and there.
It’s still fairly early in the season, so Gray will have plenty left in the tank at this stage of the campaign.