The game-time chart at Leeds United after nine games speaks volumes about each player's start to the season

Leeds United have played nine games overall this season, though not all players have had the game time they would have initially craved.

While some have been out injured - such as Joe Rodon, Daniel James and formerly Gabriel Gudmundsson - others have not been on form and have found it difficult to push into the starting XI by virtue of squad status.

Daniel Farke runs a meritocracy mantra, whereby a player who earns his place in the team keeps it - but no position is ever locked down, or at least in theory. Because as we will discover, there are players who have yet to miss a single minute.

For others, they have barely played 90 minutes. Leeds Live has looked across the first nine games of the campaign - including the League Cup ties - and have picked out some points of note when it comes to pitch time.

Haven't missed a second

Ethan Ampadu & Tarik Muharemovic (810 minutes)

That Ampadu has not missed a single minute is unsurprising, given his use by Farke during his tenure at Leeds. He has noted before how not playing Ampadu can do more damage than good, having once picked up an injury after being rested for a game during the Championship promotion season.

Of slight concern, maybe, is that he also played every single minute for Wales in their four international fixtures. Doing so in midfield is far different than doing so at centre-back, with the same game-time scenario applying for Muharemovic.

At 23 years old, the Bosnian is expected to attain better fitness, yet his consistent game time pays testament to how seamlessly he has slotted into English football in what is only his second ever top-flight season. He is undroppable.

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Making the most of minutes (or not)

Anton Stach (674), Dominic Calvert-Lewin (632), Nico Elvedi (592) & Ao Tanaka (500)

Similar praise for Muharemovic can be applied to Elvedi, who has taken to the Premier League like a duck to water after a very impressive debut against Nottingham Forest in the League Cup. His game time has been more than initially expected when he first arrived.

Calvert-Lewin did not start either League Cup game and has been taken off twice before full-time within his seven league outings - but has still managed to score five goals. That’s an average of a goal every 126 minutes, or essentially every 1.3 full matches. Not bad at all.

Tanaka’s 500 minutes are notable given he struggled to nail down a place for large periods last season. He has tallied almost a third of the total number of minutes he achieved last term already, thanks to his general form.

At the other end of the scale, Stach - who has been played as an attacking 10, not his most natural role - has left onlookers disappointed since his free-kick against Forest on the opening day of the Premier League.

Yet he ranks the fifth-highest on the Leeds minutes chart - the highest ‘attacker', as it were, given his number 10 role. Not much fruit has come from those minutes as yet.

Left wanting more

Harry Wilson (278), Jaka Bijol (258) & Lukas Nmecha (240)

In a similar vein to the point above, Wilson has underwhelmed since arriving. He has grabbed an assist - for Muharemovic’s headed opener against Chelsea in the League Cup - but has largely been ineffective besides that.

The reason why Nmecha has been included in this cohort is merely for contrast. The striker has played fewer minutes yet has notched two assists; including his fantastic role in Calvert-Lewin’s pivotal equaliser in the 1-1 draw with Brentford.

Meanwhile, Jaka Bijol will not have foreseen being given just four Premier League minutes of action in the past four fixtures. But the form of James Justin (third-highest with 799 minutes), Elvedi and Muharemovic has left him fighting for his spot.

He was arguably the most consistent defender in the final embers of last season. On a personal level, he will be desperate for more game time.

Ominous signs and patient times

Sean Longstaff (153), Melvin Bard (96), Jean-Matteo Bahoya (5) & Ilia Gruev (0)

With deadline-day signings Bard and Bahoya, the lack of minutes is less concerning. Bard was always to be brought in as a back-up to Gudmundsson and Farke has repeatedly underscored he is carefully managing young 21-year-old Bahoya.

Still, many may have thought he would have had more than five minutes of action by now. But he is a long-term project - unlike Longstaff and Gruev.

For Gruev, he has had to overcome injury this summer. A lack of minutes for his club (albeit not for Bulgaria) is mainly due to plotting his careful return following a damaged knee meniscus.

Yet when all players are fit, Gruev - out of contract next summer - is one player who might be fearing for his place in the matchday squad. Longstaff will not have that problem but just 153 minutes - of which just 19 have been Premier League - is an ominous sign.

He left Newcastle United in search of more game time but is actually getting less. The season is long and things can change but after a good pre-season, his showings in-season have been less appealing. For both players, the current trajectory look ominous.

Full squad list of minutes played

All competitions after nine games

Ethan Ampadu - 810 minutes

Tarik Muharemovic - 810

James Justin - 799

James Trafford - 720

Anton Stach - 674

Dominic Calvert-Lewin - 632

Nico Elvedi - 592

Jayden Bogle - 564

Noah Okafor - 538

Ao Tanaka - 500

Gabriel Gudmundsson - 444

Brenden Aaronson - 305

Harry Wilson - 278

Jaka Bijol - 258

Lukas Nmecha - 240

Joe Rodon - 214

Daniel James - 189

Sean Longstaff - 153

Melvin Bard - 96

Michael Zetterer - 90

Jean-Matteo Bahoya - 5

Ilia Gruev - 0