Leeds United defender Stuart Dallas may not return to action from injury until the summer, according to Northern Ireland manager Michael O’Neill.
What’s the latest on Dallas’ injury?
Dallas has been out for 11 months now after suffering a serious leg injury against Manchester City last April. The 31-year-old collided with Jack Grealish at Elland Road in the Premier League and needed surgery on a femoral fracture. Since then, the versatile full-back has had two more operations, with the latest a small clean-up surgery.
Hailed as 'fantastic' by former manager Jesse Marsch despite him never playing under the American during his tenure, Phil Hay said that Dallas’ aim was ‘always to be back before the end of the season’, but it looks as if that may not be the case.
Northern Ireland boss O’Neill addressed Dallas’ potential return during the international break, with The Yorkshire Evening Post relaying his comments in the last 48 hours. O’Neill was asked if the player could feature against Kazakhstan clash at Windsor Park in June, saying there is an ‘outside chance’.
“Stuart has maybe got an outside chance. I’m not relying on that. I know Stuart is desperate to be involved and he was desperate to be involved in this game, maybe unrealistically and he maybe pushed himself to his own detriment a little bit. But, look, the medical team we have here is top class and the communication with the clubs is excellent, which is very important. The clubs appreciate how we treat the players when they come away. We’ll just have to see how Stuart is at that point in time.”
Would that be more realistic?
Injury expert Dr Rajpal Brar has also described Dallas’ injury as ‘rare for footballers’ and said it would be a lot to ask of the player to make a full return before the end of the domestic season.
Therefore, it does seem as if a possible return in the summer for his country is more realistic for Dallas, who you’d expect will be champing at the bit to get back on the pitch after missing just four league games in 2019/20, 2020/21 and 2021/22 seasons as a Leeds player.
Hopefully, Dallas will make a complete recovery and will be able to get back to the levels that saw him win three honours at Elland Road during the club’s first season back in the Premier League, with Leeds preparing for a fourth successive top-flight season, should things go to plan.