Archie Gray's spell as Leeds United right-back will be making of him as a midfielder, says Gary McAllister

McAllister was a cultured passer of the ball in an era when midfielders were usually expected to be Jacks of all trades. He played in one of Leeds' best midfields, alongside Gordon Strachan, David Batty and Gary Speed when they won the First Division in 1991-92.

These days midfielders are often given more specific jobs, be it as holding midfielders (No 6s in modern parlance), deep-lying playmakers, players in the hole behind a striker (No 10s), or those expected to get up and down (8s).

Gray - son of former Leeds striker Andy, grandson of left-back Frank and great-nephew of legendary Whites winger Eddie - started the season as one of the holders in Leeds' 4-2-3-1 formation and played in the hole against Shrewsbury Town in the League Cup in August. But the emergence of Glen Kamara, one of McAllister's former charges when he was assistant manager of Rangers, has seen him successfully repurposed as a right-back.

With Leeds sending Djed Spence back from his loan from Tottenham Hotspur and Luke Ayling not having featured since the November 3 win in Leicester, Gray is Daniel Farke's undisputed first choice in the position unless or until something happens in the January transfer window to change that.

In McAllister's eyes, that makes him a midfielder too, whether he is asked to provide the team's width in possession, or "invert" by pushing into the centre of the pitch when his side has the ball.

"I'm extremely close to the Gray family, they're an amazing group of people, so it was no surprise to see Archie doing well and the other one (his brother Harry, an academy striker) is not bad either!" says McAllister.

"A quality young footballer can adapt even at such a young age because they listen.

"When the manager's been directing information to full-backs and Archie's been a midfield player, good players take on stuff. I can see it's not his position but he's done a job for the team and to do that out of position is something special, especially at his age.

"It's no surprise to see him linked with other clubs but he comes from quite a big Leeds family.

"I live in Harrogate and I don't think there's a day passes that someone from the Gray family doesn't run past me. They're all athletic. I would say Archie will develop as a running 8, a box-to-box midfielder. I think that's where Archie is.

"Score a goal, make a goal, he's that type of player who's capable of hitting a pass and he's got the energy to get in the box as well and get a goal as well in the future."

Gray is not the first young player to get a lot of his early football in a position which is not his most natural. Steven Gerrard played a number of his formative games at right-back before establishing himself as McAllister's midfield partner in Liverpool's midfield at the start of the 21st Century.

So McAllister - used in a variety of midfield and forward roles at his first English club, Leicester City - does not think it will do Gray any harm.

Speaking to The Yorkshire Post via BoyleSports, who offer the latest EFL Betting, McAllister said: "As a midfield player playing at right-back, the whole game's in front of you and I imagine it's pretty easy! I'm joking, but for a talented young midfield player he's asked to join in and get involved higher up the pitch but when he receives it in his own defensive area instead of the crowded pitch in the middle of the park.

"You've got a stand on one side and the whole of the pitch on the other so the decision-making won't be a problem for someone of Archie's ability."

Such is the changing role of the full-back that McAllister thinks Gray is pretty much a midfielder even when he plays at right-back. Not that he thinks the modern interpretation of the position is quite as radical as is sometimes made out.

"They are midfielders now," says the Scot, who also managed League One Leeds in 2008. "The day of the sturdy right-back is gone. I enjoy watching teams now where the player a little bit higher than the full-back comes inside and the width is generally given by the full-backs.

"But then I think back, it's not a new thing that has never happened before. Paul Reaney, Terry Cooper in those great days (in the Leeds teams of the 1960s and 70s), (Tony) Dorigo, Mel Sterland - they weren't full-backs, they were up the pitch.

"Strachan and Speed came in, Eddie Gray played off the side as well.

"The width in a team comes from full-backs high up the pitch."

Continue his current trajectory and Gray seems destined to become a top Leeds midfielder himself. If he does, he can thank his current education for helping to make him more rounded.