Northern Ireland manager reveals Stuart Dallas international break possibility following Whites training
Stuart Dallas of Leeds United has been out with an injury since April 2022.
Northern Ireland manager Michael O’Neill is considering bringing Leeds United midfielder Stuart Dallas into the squad for the upcoming international break after revealing that the player’s injury recovery is progressing. In a 4-0 loss to Manchester City at the end of April 2022, the Northern Ireland international suffered a femoral fracture as the Whites went on to secure Premier League survival.
He missed the entire season last year while recovering from the horrific injury and has yet to play this season. He has been back in training with the Whites since September, but no return date has been set due to the severity of his injury. Dallas will not play for Northern Ireland in their final two UEFA Euro 2024 qualifiers against Finland and Denmark. The Green and White Army have only won two of their eight Group H games, both against San Marino, and can only finish as high as fourth now that their qualification hopes have been dashed.
Despite Dallas’ inability to play, O’Neill says he will discuss with Leeds the possibility of bringing the player over to Belfast for some training sessions. Despite being out due to injury, veteran midfielder Steven Davis could join the squad.
“To be fair, I believe Stuart has made some progress in terms of his current situation. “He’s been training with Leeds but has had to step back a couple of times,” O’Neill explained.
“I spoke with him about possibly coming in to join the squad for a day or two next week.” Perhaps the medical team with ourselves and the medical team at Leeds will discuss this. Obviously, their top priority is to ensure that he receives care as well. It’d be nice to see him around again. Steven feels the same way, and he may come over for the Denmark game.
“I think just seeing the two lads back would lift everyone’s spirits.” We’ve discussed Stuart’s injury and how complicated it is several times. So I believe the players would benefit from it, you know, a change of scenery and a change in the group of players. It’s debatable how much benefit there would be for them in terms of recovery, but having them around, and for the mental side of things for the players, I think it would be very good.”
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