Leeds United’s Stuart Dallas could be in a position to represent Northern Ireland this summer, claims Michael O’Neill. Dallas hasn’t played a minute of competitive football since fracturing his femur while playing for the Whites against Manchester City at Elland Road last April.
After going under the knife for an initial operation at the backend of last season, he has spent the last 11 months working his way through a challenging and arduous rehabilitation process at Thorp Arch. The hope was that he would be able to make a return to action shortly after the World Cup break and the New Year, but a second operation was required and his lay-off has now stretched to the end of March.
Leeds are rightly treating the injury with caution but as Dallas approaches a full year on the sidelines, he’ll be striving to make a return and have a say on Leeds’ season as quickly as possible. Javi Gracia, who is coming to the end of his first full month in charge at Elland Road, has been careful not to provide a timeframe when asked about Dallas’ injury so far.
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However, O’Neill believes there is a possibility that Dallas could be ready for the next international window at the end of the Premier League season. The 31-year-old has been with the Northern Ireland squad over the last few days, making the journey to spend time with his countrymen as the Green and White Army got their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign underway against San Marino and Finland.
O’Neill, then, will have taken the opportunity to get the latest on his recovery and he has provided a small update.
“Stuart has maybe got an outside chance,” the Northern Ireland boss told the Belfast Telegraph about Dallas’ hopes of adding to his 62 caps for his country in June. “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.”
O’Neill added: “It’s brilliant for Steven (Davis) and Stuart to be here. They add a lot. We've got a lot of younger players in the squad and for them to see Steven Davis and Stuart Dallas about the place, it can only be a positive.
“I think it's good for the medical team to see where they are and it's a bit of a change for the players as well.”
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