Daniel Farke reveals why Leeds United star sat out training before Norwich as teen gets special treatment

Gray featured from the start in each of England’s three Under-19 European Championship qualifiers during this month’s international break, despite Farke’s hope that he would not be needed in all three matches. The Young Lions toiled in Montenegro, drawing with the qualification group hosts, as well as Wales and Austria.

England coach Simon Rusk elected to name Gray in each of his starting line-ups, and chose not to substitute the 17-year-old during any of their fixtures, meaning the youngster has played five full matches for club and country in the space of 13 days. As a consequence, Gray was left out of full-contact team training on Thursday as the Whites prepare to visit Norwich City this weekend, with Farke designating an additional recovery session for the teenager instead.

"I’m happy Archie came through [international duty] without any injuries but the load was immense and that’s why I decided today to leave him just in the dressing room and just [do] a recovery session and not with us on the pitch to train,” Farke said in his pre-match press conference.

“It’s not great for us, I would have preferred it the other way around but it’s reality and you have to accept it.”

Broadly, Leeds’ preparation to face Norwich has been affected by the international break, however this is the case for any side with several international players.

"It was of course possible to work on special areas, but [what] you can't work on is team training because you don’t have the numbers and also not the key players available.

"Often the key players are the ones involved with the national team, so it's always a bit tricky. I don’t complain about it, it’s just the situation we have to accept,” he said.

Leeds’ backroom staff are keen to monitor Gray’s involvement at senior level as he continues his transition from junior football to playing a prominent role in a full Championship campaign. Farke has acknowledged previously the club have an obligation to protect the teenager from increased risk of injury but says there is a balance to be struck, because playing regularly at this level will benefit his development.

"First-team football is always three points, it’s a dog-eat-dog business and we have to make sure that we win all three points. It doesn’t matter if the player is young or old, we play the best players to win three points because it’s our job.

"First-team football games in front of a full packed Elland Road or difficult away ground, this makes him better as a player and also develops his personality. I would question if winning games at youth level for the U19s improve him as a player,” Farke added.

Despite the German’s comments, he was keen to stress he understood why England decided Gray was needed for all available minutes during October’s international break, and would not attribute blame to any individual or fellow coach.

"I wouldn’t blame any coach to play the best players, even at youth level the coaches want to win games.

"We need discussion about what is important on youth level. Is it important to win titles and trophies or is it important to develop young players?

"If it’s important to win titles and points then you have to play Archie Gray three times. If you think about the development as a player, I would questions this.”